Nutrition Counseling for
OCD Food Fears

Telehealth & in-person sessions available.

Do you have OCD? Do you struggle with OCD food fears?

Would you like to challenge your OCD food fears so that you can enjoy a greater variety of foods and eat the foods you love?

Would you like to live your life to the fullest?

Would you like to bring greater awareness, curiosity and compassion to your eating behaviors and choices as they relate to OCD food/eating obsessions and compulsions so you can feel your best—physically, emotionally and mentally?

Why work with Katie?

As a dietitian nutritionist that understands how debilitating OCD can be and how intense OCD fears can feel, I am passionate about empowering teenagers and adults who are struggling with OCD and their relationship with food to face their OCD food fears.

My mission is to provide individuals with the tools to bring greater awareness, curiosity, and compassion to their food and eating thoughts, feelings and behaviors. This will enable them to cultivate the courage to challenge and eventually minimize/overcome their OCD food fears as well as develop a compassionate and nonjudgmental relationship with food and a nurturing self-care practice.

I am honored to be the co-leader of the International OCD Foundation’s (IOCDF) OCD and ED Special Interest Group and thrilled to be a member of the IOCDF’s Anxiety in Athletes Task Force. Anxiety in Athletes is a resource center that was created to address the mental health needs of the athletic community.

I specialize in mindful and intuitive eating, eating disorders, disordered eating, co-existing food fears and anxiety disorders (including OCD) and performance nutrition.

Photos of Katie by Amy Lane Photography

My Mission

I believe that staying curious and having compassion for your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are pivotal to cultivating the courage to face your OCD food fears so that you can enjoy ALL food that you love.

Due to my personal food relationship journey and knowledge of both OCD and anxiety, I am passionate about working with individuals to help them face their OCD food fears.

I provide client-centered counseling. This enables us to work together as a team and places you, the client, in the “driver’s seat” since everyone is unique and you are the expert of YOU and how OCD presents in your life.

Counseling

I believe in a team approach and will work with each client to create a personalized care team so that the individual receives the most comprehensive care possible. The care team typically includes a therapist and psychiatrist both of whom specialize in OCD treatment as well as a dietitian. Other medical professionals may also be part of the care team based on the individual’s needs, diagnoses and goals.

In counseling sessions, I integrate a range of therapy modalities as they relate to food and eating thoughts, feelings and behaviors. I may use counseling techniques and practices from one or more of the following therapies based on what I feel will be the most beneficial for the unique recovery journey of each individual.

I have training in and/or experience of the following therapies:

  • Exposure and response prevention (ERP)

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

  • Dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT)

  • Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

  • Mindfulness

  • Mindful and intuitive eating

  • Trauma-Informed Care: Somatic modalities (Polyvagal Theory)

  • Internal family systems therapy (IFT)

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Working Together You Will:

• Explore reasons for wanting to make changes by identifying your values and how to align your actions with your values for lasting results.

• Cultivate compassion for yourself and your behaviors which will allow you to develop personalized strategies and skills that foster long-term, sustainable change.

• Identify your OCD food fears.

• Identify food and eating obsessions and the compulsions used to minimize fear and other strong emotions/discomforts.

• Work together (along with your therapist) to determine the OCD theme as well as the “why” behind the fear(s) or the core fear driving the compulsion(s).

• Develop a plan to face your OCD food fear(s) using ERP as well as other therapy techniques.

• Begin to enjoy all foods you love by fostering the courage (using ERP and other therapy techniques) to face your OCD fears by cultivating awareness, curiosity and compassion for yourself, behaviors, patterns and thoughts.

• Develop effective and caring ways to cope with emotions.

• Support, compassion and encouragement throughout your journey.

“By having awareness, staying curious and being compassionate with yourself, you will be able to cultivate the courage to face your OCD food fears. ”

~ Katie Jeffrey, MS, RDN, CSSD, LDN

What Does a Typical Nutrition Counseling/Coaching Session Include?

Sessions are unique to your personal needs and goals.

During the initial session we will typically:

  • Explore reasons for wanting to make changes by identifying what your values are.

  • Determine how to align your actions with your values for lasting results.

  • Review your medical health history

  • Review current supplements &/or medications

  • Receive supplement recommendations, if warranted

  • Discuss your past and current relationship with food and your body

  • Identify your OCD food fears (obsessions and compulsions as they relate to food and eating thoughts, feelings and behaviors)

  • Identify the core fear(s) that perpetuate your obsessions and compulsions

  • Develop a plan to face your OCD food fear(s) using ERP as well as other therapy techniques.

  • Discuss the all-foods-fit approach to eating

  • Discuss the benefits of mindful and intuitive eating and how you can, if you’re interested, begin to develop a mindful and intuitive eating practice

  • Review current food and beverage experiences

  • Examine current lifestyle and food preferences

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Follow-Up Session

Follow-up Sessions include a review of the prior session and any intentions that were set, an acknowledgement of accomplishes/changes made, an evaluation of challenges, barriers and/or concerns, education, and adjustments to the food/eating exposure plan, as needed.

All sessions are personalized to meet your specific needs and help you achieve your goals.

Follow-up Sessions May Include: 

  • Advancements and adjustments to the food plan exposures

  • How to cultivate greater awareness, curiosity and self-compassion in regards to food and eating behaviors, patterns, thoughts and physical sensations

  • Challenge the diet mentality and the food police

  • How to honor your hunger and fullness

  • How to increase satisfaction and pleasure from food

  • Effective strategies to cope with thoughts, feelings and physical sensations

  • How to respect and develop a positive relationship with your body

  • Finding a balance between enjoyment, movement and rest

  • Gentle nutrition information that can be used as a guideline for making food decisions

Are you ready to begin facing your food fears? 

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Resources

OCD & Eating Disorder Recorded Livestreams

For additional OCD resources, please contact Katie.

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Curiosity. Compassion. Courage.™

to face your OCD food fears.