THIS IS NOT AS GOOD AS IT GETS
HOW CAN TRAUMA THERAPY
HELP YOU?
Imagine spending your days focused on the people, activities, and experiences you love, instead of worrying about food, your weight, or what your body looks like.
Imagine enjoying a meal without guilt, moving your body in ways that feel good, or getting dressed in the morning without your reflection determining how you feel about yourself for the rest of the day.
Imagine feeling more connected to your body, trusting it, caring for it, and learning to live more peacefully in the body you've been given.
We believe this is possible. And we want to help you get there.
At Three Birds Counseling, we love helping children, teens, adults, and families heal from eating disorders, navigate disordered eating and body image concerns, and build healthier, more peaceful relationships with food and their bodies.
We know that eating disorders and body image struggles can take up an enormous amount of physical, emotional, and mental space. They can leave you feeling disconnected from yourself, isolated from others, and exhausted by a seemingly endless cycle of rules, worry, shame, and self-criticism.
And we also know that healing is possible.
Recovery is hard. We won't pretend otherwise.
But you can do hard things. And you don't have to do them alone.
Our goal isn't simply to help you change your eating behaviors or feel less distressed about your body. We want to help you reclaim the time, energy, connection, and freedom that food and body struggles have taken from your life.
Because you deserve to enjoy food, experience your body with greater kindness and trust, and have more space for the people and experiences that make your life meaningful.
We want you to have the freedom to live your life. Fully. Joyfully. And on your own terms.
DO I HAVE AN EATING DISORDER OR DISORDERED EATING?
Maybe you've wondered whether your relationship with food is "normal."
Maybe you spend much of your day thinking about what you've eaten, what you're going to eat, or what you think you shouldn't eat.
Maybe you have rules about food that seem to get stricter over time. You feel guilty after eating, avoid certain foods, or find yourself caught in cycles of restricting, overeating, or trying to compensate for what you've eaten.
Maybe you've spent years dieting, hoping that changing your body will finally help you feel better about yourself.
Or maybe it's not so much about food. Maybe it's about how uncomfortable, disconnected, or unhappy you feel in your body.
Here's something important we want you to know: You don't have to have a diagnosed eating disorder to deserve support.
Eating and body image struggles exist along a spectrum. Some people meet the criteria for a specific eating disorder. Others experience patterns of disordered eating, chronic dieting, body dissatisfaction, compulsive exercise, or distress around food that significantly interfere with their lives.
And sometimes, people don't realize how much of their mental and emotional energy is being consumed by these struggles until they begin imagining what life could look like without them.
If your relationship with food or your body is keeping you from living the life you want to live, that's reason enough to reach out.
You don't have to wait until things get worse. You don't have to be *sick enough.*
What Does Disordered Eating Look Like?
Disordered eating can show up in many different ways, including:
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Feeling anxious, guilty, or ashamed about eating
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Following rigid food rules or labeling foods as "good" or "bad"
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Frequently dieting, restricting, or cycling between dieting and overeating
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Feeling out of control around food
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Using exercise to compensate for eating or change your body
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Avoiding social events because of food or body image concerns
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Constantly checking, comparing, or criticizing your body
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Struggling to recognize or trust hunger, fullness, or other body cues
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Feeling that your worth depends on your weight, shape, or appearance
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Spending so much time thinking about food or your body that there's little room for anything else
You may recognize yourself in several of these experiences, or your struggles may look entirely different.
Either way, we're here to help you better understand what's happening and explore a different way forward.
EATING DISORDERS & CONCERNS WE TREAT
Eating disorders don't all look alike, and they don't affect only one type of person or body.
At Three Birds Counseling, we provide specialized treatment for a wide spectrum of eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and body image concerns.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder that often involves restrictive eating, intense fear around weight gain, and difficulties with body image or recognizing the seriousness of the illness.
Despite common stereotypes, anorexia can affect people across body sizes and backgrounds. You cannot determine whether someone is struggling simply by looking at them.
Treatment focuses on restoring physical and nutritional well-being, interrupting eating disorder behaviors, addressing fears and beliefs around food and body image, and supporting lasting recovery.
For children and adolescents, we often incorporate family-based approaches that empower parents and caregivers to take an active role in recovery.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa often involves cycles of binge eating and behaviors intended to compensate for eating, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of medications, fasting, or excessive exercise.
These experiences can be accompanied by intense shame, secrecy, anxiety, and feelings of being out of control.
We help clients understand and interrupt these cycles, develop more consistent and supportive eating patterns, address underlying emotional and psychological concerns, and build a more compassionate relationship with food and their bodies.
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder involves recurrent episodes of eating accompanied by a sense of loss of control and significant distress.
Many people struggling with binge eating have spent years blaming themselves, trying another diet, or believing they simply need more willpower.
We don't believe shame is an effective treatment strategy.
Our approach focuses on understanding the factors contributing to binge eating, reducing distress and rigid food rules, and supporting a more trusting, flexible relationship with food.
We provide weight-inclusive care and do not make weight loss the objective of eating disorder treatment.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
ARFID involves eating difficulties that may be related to sensory sensitivities, low interest in food or eating, or fear of unpleasant experiences such as choking, vomiting, or gastrointestinal discomfort.
Unlike many other eating disorders, ARFID is not necessarily driven by weight or body image concerns.
For individuals and families navigating ARFID, meals can become sources of significant stress, worry, and conflict.
Our approach emphasizes understanding the individual's particular experiences and needs, reducing fear and distress around eating, and building greater flexibility and capacity around food in collaboration with appropriate treatment professionals.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED)
Not everyone's eating disorder fits neatly into one diagnostic category.
OSFED includes clinically significant eating disorder symptoms that don't meet every criterion for another specific diagnosis.
These struggles can be just as serious and deserving of specialized treatment as any other eating disorder.
Your suffering doesn't have to fit perfectly into a diagnostic category to matter.
Body Image Concerns, Body Dissatisfaction & Body Dysmorphia
Sometimes the struggle isn't primarily with eating. It's with how you experience, perceive, and feel about your body.
You may find yourself constantly comparing your appearance to others, avoiding mirrors or photographs, checking your body repeatedly, or feeling disconnected from the physical self you inhabit.
We help clients explore the experiences, beliefs, messages, and relationships that have shaped their body image and work toward a more compassionate and connected relationship with their bodies.
For individuals experiencing body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), treatment may also address persistent appearance-related preoccupations, checking, avoidance, and associated distress.
Chronic Dieting, Yo-Yo Dieting & Weight Cycling
Maybe you've spent years moving from one diet to the next.
You start with hope, determination, and the belief that this time things will be different. But eventually, you find yourself back in the same cycle, often feeling even more frustrated, ashamed, or distrustful of your body.
We want to help you get off that exhausting roller coaster.
Our work may involve exploring the effects of dieting and weight cycling, challenging harmful messages about food and bodies, rebuilding trust in your internal cues, and discovering what caring for your health can look like without constantly being at war with yourself.
HEALING YOUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH FOOD & YOUR BODY
What if the goal wasn't to finally have the "perfect" body, but to feel more at peace living
in the body you have?
So many people have spent years being taught that their bodies are problems to solve.
Something to shrink. Control. Fix. Hide. Or constantly improve.
Along the way, it's easy to become disconnected from the body you're living in.
You may stop noticing hunger, fullness, fatigue, pleasure, or discomfort. You may learn to ignore your body's needs in favor of outside rules about what, when, or how much you should eat. You may begin to relate to your body as something you need to manage rather than something that is part of you.
We want to help you find your way back to yourself.
That doesn't mean you have to love every part of your body or feel good about your appearance every single day.
It means learning to approach your body with more curiosity, compassion, and respect.
It means recognizing that your body is worthy of care even on the days you don't particularly like it.
It means discovering movement that feels joyful rather than punishing, eating that feels more nourishing and less frightening, and ways of responding to your body's needs that support your well-being.
And it means recognizing that your body is so much more than how it looks.
Your body is how you move through the world. It's how you experience connection, affection, rest, movement, pleasure, and the people and activities you love.
You deserve to experience your life from within your body, rather than spend your life watching, judging, and fighting it from the outside.
WHAT CAN WE WORK TOWARD TOGETHER?
Recovery is about more than changing what or how much you eat.
It's about understanding the role that eating disorder thoughts and behaviors have played in your life, developing more effective ways to cope, and building the capacity to live more fully without those behaviors controlling your choices.
Depending on your experiences and treatment goals, we may work together to:
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Reduce eating disorder thoughts and behaviors
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Develop a more consistent, flexible, and nourishing relationship with food
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Challenge rigid food rules and fears surrounding eating
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Improve body image and reduce body checking, comparison, or avoidance
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Rebuild connection with hunger, fullness, emotions, and other body cues when clinically appropriate
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Address anxiety, perfectionism, shame, and self-criticism
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Explore the ways trauma and difficult experiences may influence your relationship with food and your body
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Develop skills for tolerating discomfort and navigating difficult emotions
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Strengthen self-compassion, confidence, and self-advocacy
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Build healthier boundaries and more connected relationships
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Rediscover enjoyable movement and everyday experiences
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Reconnect with your values, interests, and sense of identity beyond the eating disorder
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And perhaps most importantly, we want to help you create more space in your life for the things that matter to you.
More time for relationships.
More energy for work, school, interests, and activities.
More freedom to experience joy, connection, spontaneity, and possibility.
Less of your life consumed by food and body worries. More of your life available for living.
OUR APPROACH TO EATING DISORDER TREATMENT
At Three Birds Counseling, we believe eating disorder treatment should be compassionate, individualized, collaborative, and grounded in clinical research and specialized expertise.
We also believe that no two people arrive at an eating disorder in exactly the same way, and no two recovery journeys will look exactly alike.
Our clinicians draw from a variety of evidence-based and evidence-informed treatment approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Family-Based Treatment (FBT), and other relational, developmental, and trauma-informed approaches.
We emphasize weight-inclusive care, respect for body diversity, and the importance of understanding each client within the context of their relationships, experiences, culture, development, and environment.
Specialized Training & Experience You Can Trust
Eating disorders are complex, and finding a therapist with specialized training and experience matters.
At Three Birds Counseling, eating disorder treatment is one of our core specialties. All of our clinicians have received advanced training in the treatment of eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image concerns, and bring their own unique expertise, therapeutic approaches, and experiences to this work.
Our team also includes three clinicians who hold advanced eating disorder specialist certifications and consultant credentials through the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP), reflecting an additional level of specialized training, clinical experience, and professional involvement in the field.
We believe meaningful recovery requires more than compassion alone. It also requires clinical knowledge, thoughtful treatment planning, collaboration, and a deep understanding of the many ways eating disorders can affect individuals and families.
Whether you're seeking support for yourself or someone you love, we'll help you connect with a clinician whose experience and approach are a good fit for your needs.
Recovery Is Hard. And You Can Do It.
We won't tell you that recovery is easy.
Sometimes recovery means doing things that feel frightening or uncomfortable. It may mean challenging beliefs you've held for years, interrupting behaviors that have helped you cope, learning to nourish a body you've struggled to accept, or finding new ways to manage emotions and experiences.
We won't pretend those fears aren't real. But we will encourage you to be brave.
Being brave doesn't mean you aren't afraid.
It means learning, with appropriate support, to take meaningful steps toward recovery even when fear is present.
We'll work with you to build the skills, confidence, flexibility, and capacity to navigate those challenges, one step at a time.
And we'll help you recognize your progress, even when it doesn't feel as though you're moving forward as quickly as you'd hoped.
Because recovery isn't about perfection.
It's about creating a life in which the eating disorder has less power and you have more freedom.
Collaborative Care: You Don't Have to Do This Alone.
Eating disorders can affect both mental and physical health. Effective treatment often involves collaboration among professionals with specialized training.
Depending on your needs, your care may include an eating disorder-informed registered dietitian, primary care physician or pediatrician, psychiatrist, and other medical or mental health professionals.
We believe this collaboration is an important part of providing thoughtful, coordinated, and safe treatment.
Our clinicians work with you to determine what additional support may be helpful and, with appropriate consent, collaborate with members of your treatment team.
When someone requires more intensive medical monitoring or a higher level of eating disorder care, we work to help identify appropriate treatment resources.
FAMILY INVOLVEMENT &
FAMILY-BASED TREATMENT (FBT)
When your child has an eating disorder, knowing how to help can feel overwhelming.
Meals may become stressful, relationships may feel strained, and parents may find themselves questioning what to say, when to intervene, and how best to support recovery.
At Three Birds Counseling, we believe parents and caregivers can be invaluable resources in their child's healing.
We offer family-based approaches to eating disorder treatment, including Family-Based Treatment (FBT) and parent-focused therapy and coaching informed by FBT principles.
Depending on your child's needs and treatment plan, we may help parents learn to support nutrition, respond to eating disorder behaviors, navigate distress around meals, establish more consistent approaches, and gradually support age-appropriate independence as recovery progresses.
Our goal is to empower parents while supporting the child's health, dignity, development, and long-term recovery.
We want your child to get back to being a kid and your family to get back to living without the eating disorder running the show.
HOW DO I GET STARTED WITH EATING DISORDER THERAPY?
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Reach Out
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Initial Intake & Assessment
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Collaborative Treatment Planning
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Begin the Work of Recovery
1. REACH OUT
Contact Three Birds Counseling and tell us a little about what's bringing you to treatment.
You don't need to know whether you have a specific eating disorder or have all the right words to describe what's happening.
We'll help you explore whether our services may be an appropriate fit and discuss next steps.
2. INITIAL INTAKE & ASSESSMENT
We'll begin by learning more about your concerns, your experiences with food and your body, relevant mental and physical health history, previous treatment experiences, and what you hope will be different.
We'll also discuss any medical or nutritional support you may need and whether additional treatment-team involvement is appropriate.
3. COLLABORATIVE TREATMENT PLANNING
Together, we'll identify treatment priorities and meaningful goals.
Your clinician will recommend an approach based on your clinical needs, circumstances, strengths, and preferences, including whether family involvement or additional professional support would be helpful.
4. BEGIN THE WORK OF RECOVERY
Recovery is a process. We'll work collaboratively to build skills, challenge patterns that are keeping you stuck, navigate setbacks, and make meaningful changes over time.
You don't have to figure out the entire journey before taking the first step.
HOW MUCH DOES EATING DISORDER
THERAPY COST?
Three Birds Counseling is a fully private-pay, out-of-network mental health practice.
Session fees are based on the services and clinicians involved. Please visit our Counseling Fees & Policies page for current rates and financial information.
We are not in network with insurance companies. Upon request, we can provide superbills for eligible clinical services that clients may submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
Insurance coverage and reimbursement vary by plan, and we cannot guarantee reimbursement.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
TRAUMA THERAPY
Do I Need a PTSD Diagnosis to Begin Trauma Therapy?
No. Many people seek trauma-informed therapy because of difficult experiences, relationship patterns, emotional distress, or nervous system responses without meeting the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. You don't need to have a particular diagnosis to explore how your experiences may be affecting your life.
What If I Don't Remember Everything That Happened?
You don't need a complete or detailed memory of every difficult experience to benefit from therapy. Treatment can focus on your current experiences, emotions, beliefs, relationships, and symptoms. We don't assume that missing memories necessarily indicate trauma, and therapy shouldn't be used to pressure clients to recover memories.
Will I Have to Talk About My Trauma in Detail?
Not necessarily. Different therapeutic approaches involve different levels and types of discussion about traumatic experiences. Some structured trauma treatments involve working directly with traumatic memories, while other approaches may focus more on current symptoms, regulation, relationships, and coping. Your therapist will explain the proposed approach and work collaboratively with you around readiness, consent, and treatment goals.
What's the Difference Between EMDR and Brainspotting?
EMDR is a structured therapy that uses established treatment protocols, including bilateral stimulation, and has substantial research support for PTSD treatment. Brainspotting uses eye position and focused attention during emotional processing and has a more limited research base. Both may be offered by appropriately trained clinicians, but they differ in their procedures and strength of supporting evidence. Your therapist can discuss whether either approach is appropriate for your needs.
What If I'm Afraid Therapy Will Make Things Worse?
It's understandable to feel nervous about exploring experiences you've worked hard to avoid or manage. Trauma treatment can involve difficult emotions, and some clients may experience temporary increases in distress during portions of therapy. We believe it's important to talk openly about those concerns, monitor how treatment is affecting you, and make thoughtful decisions about pacing, preparation, and the approaches we use. You deserve to understand your treatment and participate actively in decisions about your care.
How Long Does Trauma Therapy Take?
There's no single timeline that applies to everyone. Some clients benefit from a relatively focused course of trauma treatment. Others may need or prefer longer-term work, particularly when concerns involve complex trauma, ongoing stress, or longstanding relationship patterns. Your therapist will work with you to develop goals and regularly evaluate progress and treatment needs.
Can Trauma Affect My Relationship With Food or My Body?
Yes. For some people, traumatic experiences can influence body awareness, emotional regulation, feelings of safety, and patterns of eating or relating to food. Eating disorder behaviors may sometimes function as ways of coping with overwhelming feelings or experiences. However, not everyone with an eating disorder has experienced trauma, and not all disordered eating is trauma-related. At Three Birds Counseling, we have specialized experience working with eating disorders and trauma and consider how these concerns may interact when developing treatment plans.
Do You Offer Trauma Therapy for Teens and Adults?
Yes. Our clinicians offer trauma-informed counseling for adolescents and adults, with specific services and treatment approaches varying by provider. We can help you explore which clinician may be an appropriate fit based on age, presenting concerns, treatment needs, and availability.
Do You Offer Online Trauma Therapy?
Three Birds Counseling offers telehealth services to eligible clients throughout North Carolina, along with in-person services in Greensboro and Raleigh, depending on the provider and clinical circumstances. We'll work with you to determine whether telehealth is appropriate for your treatment needs.
Do You Accept Insurance?
Three Birds Counseling is a private-pay, out-of-network practice. Upon request, we can provide superbills for eligible clinical services that may be submitted for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Coverage varies by insurance plan, and reimbursement cannot be guaranteed.
