The Benefits of Virtual Eating Disorder Therapy

By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center

At The Eating Disorder Center we provide some eating disorder therapy sessions in our office in Rockville, Maryland, as well as eating disorder therapy virtually throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Florida, and Pennsylvania. We also offer virtual eating disorder recovery coaching with our coaches, worldwide.


So What Are The Benefits of Virtual Therapy For Eating Disorders?


1. Convenience.

-Virtual therapy clients do not have to commute, sit in traffic, or worry about parking. They simply have to open their laptop or computer on the appointed day and time and log on. This is super convenient especially for those with busy schedules who do not have time for the additional commute.


2. Flexibility.

-Due to not having to commute, clients may have more flexibility with appointment times. For instance, even if they are working an office job-some clients chose to do their appointments from their car or an empty room at work during their lunch hour.


3. Accessibility.

-Some clients may not live close by to an eating disorder specialist. Accessing therapy virtually enables clients who live in remote areas or not near our office to work with one of the top eating disorder therapists-from the comfort of their own home.


4. Effective.

-In our many years of experience providing both virtual and in person therapy we have found virtual therapy to be just as effective in helping clients to recover from eating disorders.
-Research also supports that virtual therapy can be just as effective (Hilty et al., 2013; Prescott et al., 2022; Zhou et al., 2021).


5. Ability for additional and creative interventions for recovery.

-Another cool thing about virtual therapy is that we can utilize additional interventions that might not be possible in the office. When appropriate and if you are interested, you can take us into your kitchen, fridge, or closet-for instance. We can also do a session while you are preparing food or eating a meal. 
-And we can do creative exposure therapy assignments for example, taking us into your closet and donating clothing that is too small.


6. Comfort.

-Virtual therapy sessions can occur in the comfort of your own environment. You can have a familiar blanket, pet, scented candle, etc. nearby during therapy sessions.
-This can be helpful for some clients who struggle to talk about difficult topics.


Who Wouldn't be a Good Fit for Virtual Therapy?

• Someone without a good internet connection (if you can stream Netflix or Youtube videos-that means yours is ok!)
• Someone who is severely struggling with suicidality and is often unable to commit to safety. 
• Someone who lacks access to a personal computer or cell phone.
• Very young children, typically ages 5 and under.

An Additional Tip For Virtual Therapy Sessions:

If you live in a home or apartment with other people and are concerned that they might hear what you are talking about in sessions-we have a trick to help with that!

Therapists frequently use sound machines in their office and they are pretty affordable on Amazon. Simply put one outside of your door (or a loud fan works too) and this will muffle the sound so that you have more privacy.


Reach Out For Virtual Eating Disorder Therapy!

My own experience as a client:

While, I am now recovered from an eating disorder and no longer meet with an eating disorder specialist-I go to therapy to process day to day stressors.

As a client I've done both in person and virtual therapy and to be perfectly honest, I've made more progress and also prefer virtual therapy sessions. Now, I think the progress part is related to the provider’s clinical experience regarding the therapists that I saw-in my own experience that mattered more for me as a client than whether it was virtual or in person. 

However, I am also a busy professional (and mom to a toddler!) and I much prefer the convenience of logging in during the middle of my work day vs. having to commute, drive and park somewhere for my own therapy sessions. This takes up far less time for me and since I've found online therapy to be just as effective-this is my preference.

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Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom.
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🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy
🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide

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The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, teens, and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington, D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com

References:

• Hilty, D. M., Ferrer, D. C., Parish, M. B., Johnston, B., Callahan, E. J., & Yellowlees, P. M. (2013). The effectiveness of telemental health: a 2013 review. Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association, 19(6), 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2013.0075
• Prescott, M. R., Sagui-Henson, S. J., Welcome Chamberlain, C. E., Castro Sweet, C., & Altman, M. (2022). Real world effectiveness of digital mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. PloS one, 17(8), e0272162.
• Zhou X, Edirippulige S, Bai X, Bambling M. (2021). Are online mental health interventions for youth effective? A systematic review. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 27(10), 638-666. doi:10.1177/1357633X211047285