Areas of Specialty
Eating Disorders
At Nourished with Sarah, I work with patients who suffer from disordered eating or eating disorders. I will work closely with an interdisciplinary team to ensure you receive the care you need. My goal is to normalize eating behaviors and to ensure appropriate dietary recommendations are being made to ensure you regain your life and happiness once again.
Eating Disorders and Chronic Illness
I work with individuals of all genders navigating eating disorders and chronic illnesses. I have a particular passion for working with those struggling with ARFID - Avoidant Restrictive Eating Disorder (ages 8+) and BED - Binge Eating Disorder (ages 17+).
ARFID - Avoidant Restrictive Eating Disorder
ARFID is the newest eating disorder as of 2013 and affects all ages and genders. It is characterized by a disturbance in eating that is not driven by a fear of weight gain. Individuals with ARFID can have an aversion to smell, texture and taste of new foods. ARFID presents as an extreme phobia which makes trying new foods incredibly distressing. This can lead to health consequences due to a lack of intake and not eating enough to meet their nutritional needs.
ARFID subtypes
(can have 1 or any combination of these)
- Avoidant - sensory aversion to texture, taste, smell, sounds of certain foods or eating environments
- Aversive - fear of aversive consequences such as fear of chocking, fear of vomiting, fear of an allergic reaction
- Low Interest - poor appetite, early satiety, low ghrelin, forgetting to eat, eating is a low priority, lack of interest in food
BED - Binge Eating Disorder
BED affects men and women equally and is the most common eating disorder in the United States. 2.8% of American adults will struggle with binge eating disorder in their lifetime. In 2013 BED was officially recognized as a formal diagnosis. Recovery is possible!
According to the DSM-V, the main criteria of binge eating disorder are:
- Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:
- Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2 hours), an amount of food that is larger than most people would eat in a similar period under similar circumstances
- The sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)
Adolescents
Approximately 13% of adolescents will develop an eating disorder by the age of 20. Eating disorders are a serious psychiatric illness that generally develops during adolescence. Eating disorders are among this highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness.
Family Based Treatment (FBT)
For those who qualify, I am able to provide guidance on Family Based Treatment (FBT). FBT is a treatment option which allows for children and adolescents, with an eating disorder, to remain at home, instead of going to a higher level of care. This is utilized for parental oversight to disrupt this psychiatric illness so the child may restore to normal development, weight-restore if needed, and prevent a relapse.
