Disordered Eating Therapy in Dallas, TX
Seeking therapy for disordered eating in Dallas, TX?
You’re exhausted by your relationship with food, exercise, and your own body. You wish you spent less time and energy overthinking every bite. You can’t remember the last time you said something kind to yourself while looking in the mirror. Dressing rooms and even your own closet can be a nightmare. You’re convinced that you are defined by the numbers in your life - by your weight, by your pant size, and by calories consumed.
You’re ready for something different.
You’re tired of the seemingly endless cycles of restriction and bingeing. You don’t want to feel this out of control anymore, but you have no idea where to start. You’re not sure if everyone spends this much time thinking about food and exercise, but you don’t want to ask. You end up feeling so alone with this struggle.
You just want to get to a place where you can enjoy a meal with your family or friends, or where you can at least feel present and not distracted by your food thoughts. You want to learn to like yourself again, or maybe for the first time. You want help not seeing your own body as the enemy anymore.
We’re here to help.
Allison Schmid MA, LPC
Amanda Stretcher Lewis MA, LPC-S
We help those struggling with disordered eating develop a healthier relationship with food, exercise, and with their own bodies. While we know it feels hopeless, we believe that through therapy, we can help you find freedom from the compulsive thoughts and behaviors that fuel your disordered eating. We help you better understand all the factors that contribute to complicated relationships with food, exercise, and your body. Along with this understanding, we work to give you tools for challenging your patterns.
With us, you can expect a supportive environment paired with the accountability necessary for healing. We believe in working closely with any other professionals that play a role in your recovery, including the many dietitians we greatly respect throughout the Dallas community. We meet you where you are at while also beginning to challenge the disordered eating. We help you develop a healthier connection to your own body and believe this will lead to healthier relationships with those around you.
Disordered eating is not just about food; it is often deeply connected to emotional regulation, attachment wounds, trauma responses, and relational experiences. Disordered eating therapy in Dallas integrates trauma-informed care, body-mind connection, and attachment-centered approaches to help individuals understand how patterns around food and body image developed, how they are maintained, and how they can shift toward sustainable wellbeing. We understand that eating concerns often communicate deeper needs related to safety, control, vulnerability, and connection, both within your body and in your relationships.
Connect with us to schedule your phone consult for disordered eating therapy in Dallas.
We’d love to help you address your relationship with food, movement, and your own body. Fill out our Contact page to schedule your free 15- minute phone consultation for disordered eating therapy in Dallas. Our other specialities include
How Disordered Eating Relates to Trauma
Many people struggling with disordered eating have histories of stress, neglect, emotional injury, or developmental trauma. When early relationships lacked consistent attunement, the nervous system may learn to respond to discomfort with patterns of restriction, overeating, body checking, perfectionism, or avoidance, all of which can become fused with emotional regulation. Disordered eating becomes a nervous system strategy for managing overwhelming internal experiences.
Attachment, Body Image, and Internal Experience
Attachment experiences from childhood shape how we perceive ourselves, our bodies, and our worth. When early caregivers were inconsistent, unavailable, or unpredictable, internal models of safety and attachment can become entangled with controlling patterns, including controlling food intake, exercising, or self-criticism about the body. Disordered eating therapy in Dallas explores how attachment injuries influence body image and self-relationship, helping clients develop new relational and bodily experiences rooted in safety rather than self-surveillance.
Disordered Eating in the Context of Relationships
Eating patterns rarely exist in isolation from social context. Many clients experience changes in eating, or difficulties with food and body image, in connection with relationship stress, co-dependency, or patterns of closeness and avoidance. Anxiety in relationships can amplify thoughts about control, fear of judgment, or perfectionistic standards. In some cases, couples counseling in Dallas can support partners in understanding how relational patterns interact with individual eating concerns and co-regulation.
How We Approach Disordered Eating Therapy
Our work with disordered eating in Dallas includes:
Trauma-Informed, Nervous System-Focused Care
We help your body and nervous system learn what safety actually feels like, not just intellectually, but in lived experience.Attachment-Centered Exploration
We explore relational patterns that shaped self-image and internal safety strategies.Relational Context
Recognizing that relationships, past and present, shape how we regulate, trust our bodies, and connect with others.Integration with Other Modalities
When appropriate, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Brainspotting, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, or SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) may support deeper integration of regulation and disowned sensations.Common Themes We Address
Disordered eating therapy in Dallas may support individuals navigating:
Chronic restriction or dieting cycles
Binge eating or loss of control patterns
Body checking or avoidance
Emotional eating tied to stress or attachment fear
Internal conflict between self-worth and body image
Shame, perfectionism, or reactive coping
Dissociation between the body and self-perception
Frequently Asked Questions About Disordered Eating Therapy in Dallas
-
No. Disordered eating describes patterns that interfere with well-being, such as restriction, cycle eating, body fixation, or stress-based eating, but may not meet full diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder. Regardless of label, when food and body image concerns are tied to emotional regulation or relational patterns, therapy can be incredibly helpful.
-
Many people with disordered eating patterns have histories of relational or developmental trauma. Trauma can shape nervous system responses, body awareness, and attachment, which can then become entangled with food and body image strategies. Trauma-informed therapy helps address these underlying patterns rather than surface behaviors alone.
-
Yes. Relationship stress, fear of judgment, attachment anxiety, or codependent patterns can interact with eating and body image. In some cases, couples counseling in Dallas can support relational patterns that intersect with disordered eating dynamics.
-
Yes. We provide in-person disordered eating therapy in Dallas as well as virtual therapy throughout Texas.
-
Yes. Anxiety often underlies patterns of control, perfectionism, and body vigilance. Our anxiety therapy in Dallas can support the nervous system components that maintain disordered eating behaviors.
Request a Consultation for Disordered Eating Support
If disordered eating, body image concerns, or anxiety around food is affecting your life, you’re invited to request a consultation. A brief call allows us to understand your goals and explore whether disordered eating therapy, trauma-informed work, or integration with couples counseling may best support your healing.