If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, you already know how consuming it can be. It’s there when you wake up, when you sit down to eat, when you look in the mirror, when you try to be present with the people you love. It’s the voice that says you need to restrict just a little more, the compulsion that takes over when you binge, the shame that washes in afterward, the exhausting mental arithmetic of calories and rules and punishment. And underneath all of it, there’s often a quiet pain that the eating disorder is trying to manage, a pain that deserves real attention and care.
I’m Christy Ford, a Certified IFS Therapist in Manassas, VA, and I work with people who are ready to heal their relationship with food, their bodies, and themselves. Over nineteen years of clinical practice, I’ve come to understand that eating disorders are not about willpower or vanity. They are complex conditions with deep roots that make sense when we understand what they are protecting. And they can heal.
Ready to change your relationship with food? Call (571) 229-3418 or book your first session.
What Are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions characterized by persistent disturbances in eating behavior, body image, and the thoughts and emotions connected to both. They affect people of all ages, genders, body sizes, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. While they are often misunderstood as lifestyle choices or phases, eating disorders are complex conditions that involve biological, psychological, and social factors.
The most commonly recognized eating disorders include:
Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by restriction of food intake leading to significantly low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as purging, fasting, excessive exercise, or misuse of laxatives. People with bulimia often maintain a weight that appears “normal,” which can make the condition invisible to others.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large amounts of food in a short period, accompanied by a sense of loss of control and significant distress. Unlike bulimia, BED does not involve regular compensatory behaviors. It is the most common eating disorder in the United States.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is characterized by highly selective eating, avoidance of certain foods based on sensory characteristics, or a general lack of interest in eating. Unlike anorexia, ARFID is not driven by body image concerns. ARFID is particularly common among neurodivergent individuals, and as a neurodivergent-affirming therapist, I bring specialized understanding to this work.
Other Forms of Disordered Eating include orthorexia (an obsession with “healthy” or “clean” eating), chronic dieting, emotional eating, and exercise compulsion. These may not always meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis but can still cause significant suffering and deserve clinical attention.
Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other conditions including anxiety, depression, trauma, and substance use. Understanding these connections is an important part of comprehensive treatment.
Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can be difficult to recognize, especially because diet culture normalizes many disordered behaviors. Here are some signs that your relationship with food may need professional attention:
- Preoccupation with food, calories, dieting, or body size and shape
- Restricting food intake, skipping meals, or following rigid food rules
- Episodes of eating large amounts of food with a feeling of being out of control
- Purging through vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, or fasting after eating
- Eating in secret or feeling intense shame around eating
- Avoiding social situations that involve food
- Checking your body repeatedly (weighing yourself frequently, measuring, mirror-checking)
- Significant changes in weight (in either direction)
- Wearing loose clothing to hide your body
- Withdrawal from activities, relationships, or interests you once enjoyed
- Fatigue, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, or other physical symptoms
- Using food to manage emotions: restricting to feel in control, binging to numb pain
- Intense distress or anxiety when routines around food or exercise are disrupted
If several of these resonate with you, you are not alone, and reaching out is an act of courage.
How IFS Therapy Helps with Eating Disorders
Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers an effective framework for understanding and healing eating disorders. Here’s why:
It understands eating disorder behaviors as parts, not pathology. In IFS, the part of you that restricts food, the part that binges, the part that purges, the part that is consumed by body checking; these are all understood as protector parts. They each developed for a reason, usually to manage overwhelming emotions or to cope with experiences that were too much to bear. When we approach these parts with curiosity rather than judgment, they become willing to share their stories and eventually to change.
It heals the underlying pain. Beneath the eating disorder behaviors are exile parts: parts that carry pain, shame, fear of rejection, memories of being out of control, or beliefs about being unworthy. Traditional behavioral approaches may succeed in changing the eating behavior temporarily, but if the underlying exile pain remains unaddressed, the protectors will find new ways to manage it. IFS goes to the source.
It addresses the body image wound. Body hatred is often carried by parts that absorbed messages from family, culture, peers, or traumatic experiences. In IFS, we can work directly with the parts that hold these painful beliefs and help them release the burdens of shame and self-loathing they carry.
It works with the whole person, not just the eating disorder. Eating disorders rarely exist in isolation. They are connected to patterns of anxiety, trauma, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and more. IFS naturally addresses the entire internal system, leading to broader healing that extends well beyond food and body concerns.
It supports lasting recovery. Because IFS heals at the root level, unburdening the pain that drives the eating disorder, the changes that result tend to be lasting. Clients frequently report that as their exiles heal, the urge to restrict, binge, or purge diminishes naturally, without the white-knuckle effort that characterizes willpower-based approaches.
My Approach to Eating Disorder Therapy
My approach to eating disorder treatment is grounded in IFS and informed by a weight-inclusive philosophy. I believe that:
- All bodies are worthy of respect and care
- Health is multidimensional and cannot be determined by a number on a scale
- Diet culture is a harmful system that contributes to disordered eating
- Recovery means healing your relationship with food, your body, and yourself, not conforming to a particular size or shape
As a Certified IFS Therapist with nineteen years of clinical experience, I bring extensive expertise to this work. I understand the complexity of eating disorders and the courage it takes to seek help. My training in trauma therapy (CCTP) is particularly relevant here, as many eating disorders have roots in traumatic experiences including childhood abuse, neglect, bullying, medical trauma, or systemic oppression.
I also integrate elements of other therapeutic modalities as needed, including mindfulness practices for developing a new relationship with hunger and satiety cues, and distress tolerance skills for managing the intense emotions that often accompany disordered eating. For clients who wish, I incorporate faith-based perspectives that affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
When appropriate, I collaborate with dietitians, psychiatrists, and other providers to ensure you receive comprehensive care. Eating disorder recovery often benefits from a team approach, and I am committed to coordinating with your treatment team. Learn more about my background on my about page.
What to Expect in Eating Disorder Therapy Sessions
Initial Assessment. Our work begins with a comprehensive assessment of your eating behaviors, body image concerns, emotional health, trauma history, and overall functioning. I want to understand not just what you’re experiencing but the story behind it. We’ll also discuss your goals for therapy and what recovery means to you.
Building Safety and Understanding. Early sessions focus on building our therapeutic relationship and beginning to understand your internal system through an IFS lens. We’ll identify the parts involved in your eating disorder (the restrictors, the bingers, the body critics, the perfectionists) and begin to understand what each one is trying to do for you.
Deeper Healing Work. As trust builds, we work with the exile parts that carry the pain driving your eating disorder. Through unburdening, these parts can release the shame, fear, and traumatic material they’ve been holding. As they heal, the protector parts that manifest as eating disorder behaviors can naturally relax and find new, less extreme roles.
Integration and Sustained Recovery. Recovery is not a straight line. There may be setbacks, and that’s okay. It’s part of the process. Over time, you’ll develop a fundamentally different relationship with food, your body, and yourself. Many clients find that the internal shifts they experience through IFS extend to improvements in relationships, self-esteem, and overall quality of life.
Sessions are 50 minutes, available in-person in Manassas, VA and via telehealth for residents of Virginia and Florida. My fee is $215 per session, and I accept Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. I offer an initial consultation so you can share what you’re going through and ask any questions you have.
What Sets This Work Apart
- Certified IFS Therapist. The gold standard credential for IFS practice, bringing a depth of expertise to parts-based eating disorder treatment that few therapists can offer.
- Weight-inclusive philosophy. Your worth is never measured by your size, and weight loss is never a treatment goal.
- Trauma-informed. As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, I understand and address the trauma roots that often drive eating disorders.
- 19+ years of clinical experience treating the complex intersection of eating disorders, trauma, anxiety, depression, and dissociation.
- Whole-person approach. Integrating IFS with multiple therapeutic modalities to meet your unique needs.
- Collaborative care. Willing and experienced in working with dietitians, psychiatrists, and other treatment team members.
Schedule a consultation or call (571) 229-3418 to talk about what you’re going through.