REFRESH DALLAS · EATING DISORDERS
Eating disorder care, the psychiatric piece.
Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID. Eating disorders are serious psychiatric conditions that need a team. We are one part of that team and we work alongside the dietitians and therapists who do the rest.
In-network with most major insurance · Same-week availability · Psychiatric specialists
THE CONDITION
They are not one condition.
Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID, and OSFED share some surface features and diverge in important ways. What the symptoms look like. What makes them better or worse. Which medications help. Treating them as one thing is one of the reasons so many patients have spent years not getting better.
Eating disorders also affect people across every gender, body size, age, and background. The stereotype of who develops one has delayed diagnosis for decades of patients who did not look the part. The diagnosis is based on behaviors and psychology, not on a number on a scale.
Eating disorders commonly travel with depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma history, and ADHD. Treating them well means addressing the picture.
OUR APPROACH
Medication, in context.
We treat the psychiatric piece. That can mean medication for the eating disorder itself when one of the FDA-approved options is the right fit. It can mean medication for the co-occurring depression, anxiety, OCD, or trauma that often runs alongside the eating disorder. Often it is both.
Eating disorder care works best as a coordinated team. Psychiatry. A registered dietitian. A therapist with eating disorder training. We are one piece. We collaborate with the others.
SCOPE OF CARE
Where another setting is the right call.
Severe malnutrition needs medical management that an outpatient psychiatry practice can't provide. Inpatient, residential, or partial hospitalization programs are the right setting for close medical monitoring, vital sign stabilization, or weight restoration, and we stay involved at the level we can.
Nutritional counseling and eating disorder therapy happen with the dietitian and the therapist on the team. We're the psychiatry piece. Eating disorder treatment works because all three pieces are talking to each other.
For medication to do its work in an eating disorder, the therapy and nutrition pieces need to be in place too. We won't prescribe in isolation because it doesn't work in isolation.
FAQ
Questions.
Yes. Most patients with eating disorders are not underweight. The diagnosis depends on behaviors and psychology, not on a weight.
We do not weigh patients in psychiatric appointments. Weight monitoring, when it is clinically needed, happens with the dietitian or the primary care provider.
Ambivalence is part of eating disorders for almost every patient. We do not expect you to arrive ready. We meet you where you are and we work from there.
Some of our providers see children and adolescents of most ages. Eating disorders in younger patients are often best addressed with Family-Based Treatment alongside psychiatric care, so reach out and we'll let you know if we're the right fit.
Eating disorders carry real medical and psychiatric risks, and getting help is the right call when things feel out of hand. If you are in medical danger right now, call 911. For mental health crisis support, you can call or text 988 anytime. The National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline is available at 1-866-662-1235, Monday through Friday. When you are ready for outpatient care, we will be here.
Eating disorders are treatable. With the right team and the right plan, recovery is real and it is durable.