“I couldn’t go a day without working out. I panicked when I ate at restaurants. And I despised my body."
Hey, I’m Juliana, and I have recovered from an eating disorder.
Healing happened for me. It was slow, and it was hard, but it eventually happened. I thought everyone did what I did with food. I didn’t know I had a problem until my husband pointed out that what I was doing with food wasn’t normal.
I was so Scared.
Calling a therapist for the first time was so hard! I was terrified. I tried a few things before I found Erin. Other therapists didn’t seem to “get it” the way she does.
Working with Erin, I could really come to terms with what I was doing. I realized that my eating disorder was just my way of dealing with life and that I needed to learn new ways to cope without using food and restriction and exercise. She helped me see my strengths and how to use them to recover.
What I learned.
I learned how to eat in a way that sustains me, how to set boundaries with people in my life, how to identify and deal with emotions, and how to love myself. All these things would have sounded so cliche to me a few years ago, but now I know how important they all were to my recovery.
I also learned to think about food in a whole new way: to nurture my body. Erin used lots of science to help me understand the in’s and out’s of how food helps and harms. I liked that. I really needed the science to be able to trust the process.
I also had to deal with the underlying issues I was facing, such as trauma from the past, fear of speaking up for myself, chronically low self-esteem, relationship issues, and perfectionism. Erin was compassionate and a great guide through it all.
Over time I was able to be flexible with food. Now I can go out to dinner with my husband on a moment’s notice without panicking. I exercise normally doing things I enjoy, my weight is stable, and food feels easy. I also haven’t binged in over a year! That is a huge miracle for me.
And the best part is, I am actually OK with my body now. It’s not perfect, but I’m OK with that.”
-Juliana, Oklahoma, USA
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Where are you located?
A. I live and work in a rural ski town in Colorado. I don’t currently have an in-person office, so I see all my clients remotely either via Zoom or Doxy.me. If you live somewhere with few eating disorder resources, I understand the unique challenges of finding a specialist in your area. Therefore I specialize in helping people transform their relationship to food even if we live thousands of miles apart.
Q. What is the difference between therapy and coaching?
A. As a coach I can help you heal from your eating and body image issues across state lines, but we can’t talk much about trauma. We can look in the rearview mirror a bit, but we can’t linger very long. Coaching is more about addressing the here-and-now behaviors and your attitudes about yourself and food. As a therapist I can also help you heal from eating and body image issues, and our sessions can take us wherever we need to go, even if it includes trauma or significant events from the past.
Q. Do you take insurance?
A. I do not take health insurance at this time. This is a great thing for your privacy and not having any diagnoses reported to HIPPA. Additionally, without the headache of having to bill your insurance and fit our sessions into insurance standard protocol, I am better able to focus on you and your unique needs.
Q. What’s the best way to get my loved one to see you?
A. If you think a loved one may be resistant to getting help, schedule a session with me yourself first. Then we can strategize approaches together. Since I have extensive personal experience with my own eating disorder, many potential eating disorder clients feel immediately connected to me and my experience, and do not have as much trouble committing to help as they have to methods of help in the past.
Q. Do you work with the families of individuals suffering from eating disorders?
Q. What age ranges do you work with?
A. I work with men and women 18 and up.
Eating issues are not solely a young people’s problem. Women and men even in their 60s and beyond are suffering greatly with debilitating body image issues and eating disorders that can cause intense health problems. It is wonderful when I can help clients in their 20s and 30s not have to suffer for a lifetime, and it is all too common that people find help in later life. I am here to help at every age and stage.
Q. What modalities do you use?
But my favorite modality is… laughter… and lots of it. I love to infuse laughter into all sessions with my clients, where appropriate of course. Eating disorder recovery can be a heavy topic, and one of the things I’m most grateful for about my own recovery is the ability to be silly again and to make others laugh. I can be a bit corny at times, so you might be laughing at me, but that’s totally OK!
Q. What is your professional training and experience?
A. For ten years, I coached individuals with a broad range of eating issues, combining all the evidence-based modalities that helped me on my journey. As I worked with folks with eating disorders, I came to realize that my work as a coach was limited. I needed to be able to help people through the traumas they experienced and heal from the past. So, I pursued a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and graduated in 2022. I’m now a licensed therapist in the state of Colorado, and working on licensure in other states.