Binge Eating Disorder Treatment in Connecticut
Compassionate, weight-inclusive eating disorder therapy in Westport and throughout Connecticut
Binge eating disorder can leave you feeling trapped in a cycle of eating, shame, restriction, and attempts to regain control. For many people, years of dieting and messages about what their body “should” look like can make that relationship with food even more complicated.
At Shoreline Eating Disorder Center, we provide individualized, weight-inclusive treatment for adolescents and adults experiencing binge eating disorder and related concerns. In-person therapy is available in Westport, with telehealth available throughout Connecticut.
Understanding Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder, often called BED, is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating accompanied by a sense of loss of control and significant distress.
During a binge, someone may feel unable to stop eating or control what or how much they are eating. Episodes may involve eating rapidly, eating beyond comfortable fullness, eating when not physically hungry, or eating privately because of embarrassment or shame.
Unlike bulimia nervosa, binge eating episodes in BED are not regularly followed by compensatory behaviors such as vomiting or other forms of purging.
But binge eating rarely exists in isolation. Many people with BED have spent years moving between dieting, restriction, attempts to control food, binge eating, and promises to “start over” tomorrow.
Understanding and interrupting that cycle is an important part of treatment.
Signs You May Need Support
Binge eating disorder is about more than occasionally eating past fullness or having a meal that feels larger than usual.
You may benefit from additional support if you experience:
Episodes of eating accompanied by a feeling that you cannot stop or control your eating
Eating significantly more rapidly than usual
Eating until you feel uncomfortably full
Eating when you are not physically hungry
Eating alone or in secret because you feel embarrassed about how much you are eating
Feeling guilt, shame, sadness, or disgust after eating
Frequently promising yourself that you will “do better” or “start over” tomorrow
Restricting food following a binge or period of eating you consider excessive
Repeatedly cycling between diets, food plans, or attempts to control your eating
Feeling anxious around foods you have labeled as “bad,” “unhealthy,” or “off limits”
Feeling out of control around certain foods
Spending significant amounts of time thinking about food, eating, weight, or your body
Avoiding social situations because of concerns about eating or your body
Feeling that your weight, shape, or eating determines your self-worth
You do not need to meet every diagnostic criterion or reach a particular body size to deserve help with your relationship with food.
Binge Eating Is Not a Lack of Self-Control
People with binge eating disorder are often told—directly or indirectly—that they simply need more discipline, better nutrition, or greater control around food.
Binge eating disorder is not a failure of willpower.
Restriction, food deprivation, rigid rules, emotional distress, trauma, shame, and repeated dieting can all contribute to patterns of binge eating. Trying to respond by becoming even more restrictive can sometimes reinforce the very cycle someone is trying to escape.
For people who have spent years dieting, treatment may involve beginning to question deeply ingrained beliefs about food, health, weight, and what their body is supposed to look like.
At Shoreline Eating Disorder Center, we do not use body size as a measure of health, illness, or treatment success.
Our focus is on reducing eating disorder behaviors and distress, increasing flexibility around food, and helping you develop a relationship with eating that allows you to participate more fully in your life.
Our Approach to Binge Eating Disorder Treatment
Weight-Inclusive Treatment for Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder treatment should not simply be another diet.
At Shoreline Eating Disorder Center, treatment is individualized, collaborative, trauma-informed, and weight-inclusive. We work to understand the factors contributing to binge eating rather than approaching the behavior as something that needs to be controlled through increased restriction.
Depending on your needs and goals, treatment may focus on:
Reducing the frequency and intensity of binge eating episodes
Identifying patterns and triggers associated with binge eating
Interrupting cycles of restriction and binge eating
Increasing consistency and flexibility around food
Challenging rigid food rules and all-or-nothing thinking
Reducing fear and anxiety surrounding particular foods
Developing alternative ways to manage difficult emotions and distress
Addressing shame associated with eating and body size
Exploring the impact of dieting and weight stigma on your relationship with food
Addressing body image concerns without requiring body acceptance as a condition of recovery
Developing greater trust in your body's needs and internal experiences
Addressing anxiety, perfectionism, trauma, or other concerns that may interact with eating disorder behaviors
Reconnecting with relationships, activities, and experiences that have been limited by food or body concerns
Treatment goals are developed collaboratively and are based on your individual circumstances, needs, values, and definition of meaningful change.
You Do Not Have to Lose Weight to Recover From Binge Eating Disorder
For many people with binge eating disorder, seeking help has historically meant being told to lose weight.
This can create a painful contradiction: someone may be trying to recover from an eating disorder while simultaneously being encouraged to restrict food, monitor their body, or pursue intentional weight loss.
At Shoreline Eating Disorder Center, weight loss is not a treatment goal for binge eating disorder.
Instead, we focus on the eating disorder itself: binge eating, restriction, food rules, distress, shame, body image, and the emotional and psychological factors that may contribute to the cycle.
This does not mean that physical health is ignored. Eating disorders can affect physical and psychological health at any body size, and we encourage appropriate medical care and collaboration with other providers when needed.
It means that your care is not contingent upon making your body smaller.
Learn more about levels of care and treatment recommendations in our FAQ.
Binge Eating Disorder Treatment in Westport and Throughout Connecticut
Shoreline Eating Disorder Center provides specialized outpatient treatment for binge eating disorder in Westport, Connecticut, serving clients throughout Fairfield County, including Fairfield, Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Darien, New Canaan, Stamford, Greenwich, and surrounding communities.
Telehealth eating disorder therapy is also available throughout Connecticut.
Working with a clinician who specializes in eating disorders can be particularly important when binge eating exists alongside years of dieting, body dissatisfaction, anxiety, trauma, or experiences of weight stigma.
Our goal is to provide a space where these experiences can be explored without judgment and where treatment focuses on your relationship with food, your wellbeing, and the life you want to build—not on achieving a particular body size.
Your Relationship With Food Doesn't Have to Control Your Life
You don't have to wait until things become worse or until you feel “sick enough”to ask for help.
Whether you're concerned about restriction, anxiety around food, compulsive movement, changes in your relationship with your body, or an existing anorexia diagnosis, we can talk about what's happening and determine whether Shoreline Eating Disorder Center may be a good fit for you.
In-person appointments are available in Westport, Connecticut, with telehealth available throughout the state.
