Get to Know Eating Disorder Therapist Katie Bongiorno, LMFT

Weeks ago, I was sitting in my San Diego, California eating disorder office and connected with Pennsylvania-based eating disorder therapist and eating disorder educator Katie Bongiorno, LMFT. She and I instantly clicked. She is so authentic! Not only am I impressed with her passion for helping people recover from eating disorders, I also connect with her own recovery story in that I’m recovered from an eating disorder as well. I found recovery in a San Diego eating disorder therapist’s office; she did with an east coast therapist. We both recounted how freeing it has been to have the eating disorder long behind us, and we love how called we both feel to get people on the pathway to recovery, no matter on which coast we live.

Why did you choose to become an eating disorder therapist?

I worked with eating disorders after completing my clinical internship in graduate school. My first supervisor was the clinical director at Monte Nido eating disorder treatment center in Villanova and she asked me to come work for her at the intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs.

I found the work to be challenging and incredibly rewarding. I also found it to be all too relatable and ultimately I made the decision to leave that role because I felt that I was benefiting from group sessions even though I was leading them. I am not a stranger to hating my body and have struggled with it from a very young age. I have dealt with failed dieting, orthorexia, disordered eating/exercise, binging and restricting cycles, etc - you name it and I’ve tried it. My healing was slow and complicated, as I never met full-blown criteria for an eating disorder and therefore did not believe I was “worthy” of recovery.

After that I transitioned into becoming a family-based therapist and am now working at a private practice called The Therapy Group. I found that many of my clients are young women and that the majority of them feel uncomfortable in their bodies – some to a point of disordered eating, compulsive exercising, and some with eating disorders. So, I’m back at it with trying to dismantle diet culture and providing therapy around body image.

What kind of eating disorder treatment do you provide?

At present, I see individuals who are teetering on the line of disordered eating and an eating disorder. I also work with those who are in recovery from eating disorders. My therapy approach focuses on body image, and I often refer my clients to work with HAES registered dietitians.

Do you work with only eating disorders?

Nope! I work with kids and teens who struggle with anxiety, ADHD, emotional dysregulation, family difficulties, communication, body image, and social skills. I also work with parents who desire to learn how to support their children and who want to understand how to communicate effectively through difficult emotions. I also work with college students and adult women to understand themselves and break free from toxic patterns—mainly perfectionism and people pleasing.

How long have you worked with eating disorders overall, and how long have you been practicing in Pennsylvania and New Jersey?

I am relatively green but I’ve been working as a therapist for five years!

You have an amazing e-learning course on eating disorders and body image. Would you briefly describe the eating disorder and body image course?

Yes! The course is called Achieving Authentic Balance in Your Body, and it is entirely virtual and self paced. The course contains seven models that are each comprised of guided video lessons and follow up activities /  exercises. The course acts as a roadmap of what you can expect when you are deciding to exit diet culture and embrace an anti-diet lifestyle. The course loosely follows my personal healing journey and also mirrors the work I do with my clients. I am incredibly proud of it and think it would be an excellent resource for anybody looking to learn more about other ways of living and existing in your body. Here is the basic structure of the course:           

Welcome: We start by answering: What the hell even is diet culture? Why do we need to challenge it? What might a life of body respect and balance be like?

Exhaustion: Stop trying to do it all! Here we process your reasons for wanting to ditch diet culture and write a letter to our future self.

Awareness: Here we take stock of how affected you are through identifying all of the areas of your life impacted by diet culture. You will begin to connect with your physical body and identify underlying beliefs.

Unlearn & Relearn: Next, we dig into the lies/myths, learn the foundations of the anti-diet movement, unpack your personal story, and discover ways to identify sneaky diet culture.

Grief: This work requires that you release the fantasy life you’ve attached to obtaining the fantasy body. Here, we hold space to reckon with the pain and grief that shows up along the path to body acceptance.

Activation: You will be guided through several therapeutic themes that emerge including changing critical self-talk, challenging body beliefs, recognizing triggers, establishing boundaries, and practicing body neutrality. AND you will learn that faking it till you make it is totally okay!

Balance: Finally, you’ll process how far you have come, learn how to reintroduce health goals, look ahead for future pitfalls, and write a letter to a past version of yourself. This may be the end of the course, but it’s just the beginning of your LIFE!

For those wanting more info they can check out my website where I have lots of free content and a sneak peek at the course.

What do you wish people knew about eating disorders and body image?

This is probably the hardest question because there’s so much that I wish people did know. Regarding eating disorders, it is not simply about food. They cannot just “make themselves eat.“  Also, eating disorders affect people in all body types- there is no one way that you look with an eating disorder. 

Regarding body image, I would never shame nor judge anyone who feels compelled to diet. Our culture is built around worthiness for those in the “ideal bodies.” How could I judge someone for wanting to fit in and feel safe? However, my mission is always to provide another perspective and then leave it up to them to have a more informed decision about dieting. Because you don’t have to change the way you look to feel safe in your body.

How can people reach out and contact you? How can people access your course?

People can follow me on instagram, at @katiecanhelp or they can check out my brand new website www.ktcanhelp.com. 

They can find more information on my e-course on my website and also on The Therapy Group’s website.

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Hey everyone, I really appreciate you reading my blog!  Have a wonderful day. :)  

Marianne 

If you want to take the next step toward eating disorder recovery and find out more about eating disorder treatment, ARFID, bulimia, binge eating or other eating disorders in San Diego, check out the resources on my website, including previous blog posts and my guest-speaking gigs on podcasts.

COMING SUMMER 2022: My virtual, 5-week class called Freedom From Binge Eating. Registration deadline is July 5th, and it begins Tuesday, July 12th.

You can find more information about me on Instagram @drmariannemiller or on my Facebook page.