Nikki Rollo, PhD, LMFT

Perhaps you see food as the enemy or as a main source of comfort when you experience difficult or distressing things in your life. It is common for people struggling with their relationship with their body or with food to believe extremes about certain food being a right or wrong choice, or good or bad.

You might find yourself obsessively counting calories or modifying your diet to change your body shape or size. This can be really challenging as people end up feeling a lot of shame about themselves when they are caught in cycles of restriction or bingeing.

You might be considering therapy because you have developed a relationship with food and eating that brings suffering, and you’re worrying you are on a path to a very serious disorder and hoping to avoid that in your life.

Signs You Have A Dysfunctional Relationship With Food

You might limit certain foods, binge, or eat when not hungry to cope with emotional distress. If you feel pressure to lose weight and judge yourself harshly, you might really be suffering and want to feel relief because your emotions are tied so tightly to your body image. Maybe you practice “yo-yo dieting,” when you hyperfocus on a diet and put 100 percent of your energy into it, which is both all-consuming and exhausting. It is completely impossible for anyone to maintain unrealistic standards or diets for any period of time.

Often, the root of disordered eating may be something like anxiety, underlying trauma, or a low sense of self-worth. Therapy provides a safe space to explore your eating patterns more deeply, to help with recovery, and to learn how to process your feelings differently to avoid progressing into a more serious disorder.

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It’s Easy To Develop Disordered Eating In Today’s World

It is so common for women to experience a sense of unhappiness with their bodies that research has named it “Normative Discontent”; (1) It’s not surprising that this evolved between

the influences and messages from our peers, family, society, and social media about what a “good body” or a “bad body” looks like.

We unfortunately live within oppressive systems that regulate women’s bodies. These systems and influences have taught us that our bodies are not to be trusted, not necessarily deserving of care or respect, and that some bodies should be valued above others depending on how they look. These distorted messages cause us to lose connection with our sense of self, our soul, and our sense of spirituality in pursuit of other’s ideals.

Unraveling Our Complicated Relationship With Food Can Be Challenging

People develop disordered eating patterns as a way to cope with both emotional and physical pain, body image issues, and overall soul disconnection. Recovery asks us to look beyond or

deeper at behaviors and symptoms to work on the connection to feelings about ourselves and our identity.

Disordered eating is a kind of coping skill that makes a lot of sense at the moment, but won’t work to resolve whatever is driving it—like underlying emotional pain. However, it would be hard to just give up your current eating patterns without first honoring the ways they have helped you cope with suffering, and replacing them with other ways to cope that won’t lead to a disorder, and therapy can help you develop these new ways of relating to yourself.

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Therapy Can Help You Heal And Prevent An Eating Disorder

I provide therapy for disordered eating, binge eating, chronic dieting, body image struggles, and shame. I work with people who are struggling with their sense of self-worth as being linked to their body weight, size, and shape.

I believe that all foods are neutral, none are “good” or “bad,” and I maintain an anti-diet and weight-inclusive model in my therapy practice. I also believe in the Health at Every Size (HAES) approach. The body is often the site of struggle, but can also be the site of healing. I can help you become aware of what your body is telling you in the present moment, utilizing your innate wisdom.

Therapeutic Approaches To Help Form An Integrated Self With Compassion And Care

In my therapy practice, I work within a variety of frameworks.

Depth psychology is a Jungian approach to therapy that emphasizes the exploration of the unconscious mind and helps us re-integrate the parts of ourselves that have been rejected or repressed. Symptoms are seen as a way the unconscious communicates with us about what needs tending. In the depth approach we invite all parts of you and work toward meaning-making, wholeness, and integration. I utilize breathwork and grounding techniques, and we might also work with dreams, journaling, and images as ways of tending to the soul.

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a way of working with feelings of shame and self-criticism. It involves treating your body and yourself with the same kindness and understanding you would offer a loved one, encompassing self-compassion, a unique path for working with your emotions, and mindfulness-based practices.

The whole-person approach welcomes and includes all parts of a person together to address physical, emotional, and spiritual hunger. Similar to systems theory, I work from a holistic perspective, considering the interconnectedness of parts within your whole system.

As a therapist, I am situated within the lens of Health At Every Size (HAES) and Anti-Diet in my approach to eating disorders and body image work. My training also includes Emotionally-Focused Therapy, which can help you understand your emotions and how they shape your interactions with others.

Overall, we will recognize and honor what you’ve gone through, and look at the way you have been using food as an attempt to solve your problems, adding compassion and love for yourself into the process of healing.

Therapy Can Become A Source Of Self Discovery And Renewal

My practice is a safe place where you can slow down and nurture yourself. You can look inside to witness your own experience and to be witnessed. Together we will explore the meaning of your symptoms so you can better heal, bringing your mind and body into an integrated place as a full expression of who you are.

This work is about body image recovery and healing, emotional freedom, finding your true self, reducing shame, increasing self-compassion, and transforming suffering. Recovery is completely possible.

You Might Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Therapy For Disordered Eating…

I have spent most of my career as a therapist working with eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image recovery, and have worked with these populations since 2005 in a variety of settings. My experience spans outpatient, partial hospital, residential, and inpatient levels of care.
I truly believe recovery is possible and you can experience liberation from the shame and anxiety that keeps you trapped in the current relationship with food and negative body image. Sometimes, additional support from registered dietitians and medical doctors outside therapy is needed, and if so, I can help connect you with resources and professionals including an eating disorder support group.
It can feel scary to start therapy and begin talking about your relationship with food and your body. First, we will work to build a connection, from which you will be in control of how the therapy process goes, with us working at a pace that feels right to you.
My goal for therapy is not to take anything away from you, but rather to support you in finding true meaning, joy, and liberation in your life where you’ll have less and less use for disordered eating or body image shame. I will help you on the journey to retrieve parts of yourself and find meaning, connection, and wholeness.
I offer flexible scheduling options and sessions can be 45 or 60 minutes long. I ask that we start weekly to get to know one another and make tangible progress in the therapy process. As time goes on and you feel more stable with healing your relationship with food and with body acceptance, we may consider moving therapy to every other week or to occasionally as maintenance sessions as needed.

Your Journey To A Healthy Relationship With Food Can Start Today

I welcome you to reach out to discuss how my therapy practice can help you heal from your disordered eating so you can free yourself from the shame and emotional pain they can cause. Contact me for a free 15-minute consultation at (917) 426-4145 or through my Contact form.

1. https://www.verywellmind.com/body-image-and-eating-disorders-4149424

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nikki@nikkirollo.com 917-426-4145

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Therapy for anxiety, body image, disordered eating, reproductive mental health, motherhood, and spiritual and existential exploration. For clients located in New York or California.

Are You Struggling With Body Image And Disordered Eating?