Therapy for Atypical Anorexia IN SAn Diego, CA

Atypical anorexia is an all-consuming battle with your body and mind that no one thinks is a “problem” because you don’t look sick. Part of you believes them, so you double down on the behaviors. Another part knows something isn’t right and is desperate for someone to say, “Your struggle is real. You deserve help.”

We can help you heal from atypical anorexia

You do not have to be ‘underweight’ to experience the psychological, behavioral and medical consequences of anorexia.

You Might Have Atypical Anorexia If…

You’re constantly thinking about food: counting, tracking, or planning what you eat
You feel intense guilt, shame, or anxiety if you break a ‘food rule’
You’re restricting food, skipping meals, fasting and or over exercising
You are at a much lower weight than is typical for your body, even if you aren’t considered “underweight”
You receive praise for losing weight while your relationship with food and your body becomes increasingly distressing
Your eating disorder has been dismissed because you don’t “look sick” or aren’t considered “underweight”

But Atypical anorexia is still anorexia. It is not a ‘less serious’ version of an eating disorder. You Deserve care that is free of weight stigma.

Are you Looking for a weighT inclusive therapist for Atypical Anorexia?

Eating Disorder & OCD Therapy provides weight inclusive eating disorder therapy to anyone with anorexia, regardless of body size, from our in-person office in San Diego, CA.

We also offer virtual therapy for atypical anorexia throughout California, Maryland, Tennessee, Utah, Florida and Washington.

Why DOes Atypical Anorexia Develop?

For all the same reasons anorexia in smaller bodies develops- there are biological, psychological and environmental components. Some bodies have genetic factors that protect them from being a lower weight, regardless of how much the person tries. Two people can be eating the same amount of food and working out with the same intensity and frequency; and they will have two different outcomes body size and shape wise. You are sick enough to get help, even if those around you don’t see it.

You are worthy of the same level of care and concern as someone in a smaller body with anorexia.

What does therapy for Atypical Anorexia look like?

Our approach is rooted in a relational, psychodynamic and liberation psychology perspective. We go beneath the surface so that healing can last- as well as help you find relief from symptoms. We utilize a treatment team approach and incorporate a variety of evidence based practices to support your healing journey.

Our intake process and the eating disorder assessments we use are weight inclusive- we do not rely on BMI as a reflection of how much you are struggling.
We utilize a health at every size framework with all of our clients with eating disorders. This means that we don’t see your body size as the sole marker of your health. We also don’t resort to blaming your weight for health issues or prescribe weight loss. We believe people of all shapes and sizes deserve access to quality, weight stigma free healthcare, including eating disorder therapy.
HAES as our foundation also means that we work to debunk harmful misconceptions about food and bodies with real science that diet culture does not want you to know about.
Atypical Anorexia is best treated by a team of professionals including a therapist who specializes in atypical anorexia, an eating disorder dietitian and a weight inclusive medical doctor. We connect you to trusted doctors and dietitians that specialize in this area and form a care team where we collaborate on your treatment goals.
We stay up to date with the latest techniques from some of the most well-researched methods of healing from anorexia: cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure response prevention therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for anorexia.
We adapt these approaches to be weight inclusive, sadly, some of these standardized approaches do involve weight bias when not critically examined. It’s important to have a therapist who can see the value in these approaches while also adapting them to be more inclusive and affirming.
We use relational psychodynamic therapy, internal family systems therapy and somatic attachment therapy to help you get to the deeper pain points underpinning your struggle with arypical anorexia. Eating disorders are often just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ — so we must go deeper than just symptom management.
We value harm reduction as a valid and life saving approach to atypical anorexia. Harm reduction honors your autonomy and helps reduce the harm from eating disorder behaviors even when you aren’t ready or wanting full recovery. Harm reduction is about keeping you safe and is not ‘giving up.’ We use this lens with all eating disorder presentations.
We understand that YOU are the expert and have the final say on your body. We will never shame or blame you for pursuing weight loss, even though we don’t recommend or encourage it. We work to understand you and help you trust yourself while providing information that grants you more agency in your choices regarding your body.
We don’t believe you have to love your body in order to heal. Though we would love for that to be the outcome of your recovery, in a world entrenched in anti-fatness, we know that might feel completely unattainable. Instead, we work on helping you respect and care for your body, even when you don’t ‘love’ it.
Body liberation means recognizing that your body deserves dignity, care, and freedom regardless of its size, shape, ability, or appearance. You don’t have to love your body every day to believe that it deserves to be treated with respect.

Are you ready to…

Stop spending so much of your day thinking about food, calories, weight and your body?
Eat without the guilt, anxiety or mental battle that follow?
Step out of the cycle of restriction, food rules, body checking and over exercise?
Be taken seriously when it comes to your struggle with anorexia?
Be treated with the same level of compassion and concern as someone in a smaller body with anorexia?

We’d love to help you recover and heal from anorexia and weight stigma.

Common Signs of Atypical Anorexia

Avoiding meals with others
Preoccupation with appearance
Tracking calories, macros, protein intake, etc.

Restricting food intake
Intense fear of weight gain
Obsessive thoughts of food

Frequently Asked Questions about anorexia therapy

We primarily work with teens and adults with anorexia. We are happy to provide trusted referrals for anyone looking for a children’s anorexia specialist!
No! It’s a common misconception that people with anorexia are always low weight/ underweight. We work with people of all body sizes who struggle with anorexia.
Yes! Anorexia happens to people of all body sizes. Folks in higher weight anorexia often have worse psychological and physical side effects due to weight stigma in help seeking.
Curious if you or a loved one have higher weight anorexia? Check out our atypical anorexia page for more info.
Several things set us apart! While we do help with behavioral change and understand that it is a very important part of the process, we also tend to the root causes of your struggle with anorexia so that healing can last a life time.
This is a common experience- so know that you are not alone. Nearly every person I work with who has anorexia feels this way, its actually a hallmark of the illness due to brain changes that happen with chronic semi-starvation. It is my opinion that any amount of struggle with food is ‘sick enough’ to warrant treatment.
Cost is dependent on the clinician you work with and the state you reside in (variability for cost of living in different areas). You can check out our rates and insurance page for more info!
You can reach out here to connect with us or you can email us at: info@eatingdisorderocdtherapy.com