Interested in Culturally Sensitive Treatment? Meet Eating Disorder Therapist Dr. Jennifer Douglas
Hello all! I’ve recently gotten to know eating disorder therapist Dr. Jennifer Douglas. She is a clinical psychologist who has worked at some of the top eating disorder treatment centers in the United States, including University of California at San Diego Eating Disorders Center and Stanford University Eating Disorders Program. One thing I really appreciate about Jen is that when treating folks with eating disorders, she takes a culturally sensitive approach. She loves working with people of diverse body sizes, genders, religions, abilities, ages, countries of origin, and sexual orientations. She used to live in San Diego and now resides in San Francisco. She can provide Telehealth anywhere in California. Enjoy getting to know her!
Why did you choose to become an eating disorder specialist in San Diego and in San Francisco?
Eating disorders are what brought me to the field of psychology in the first place. I was actually on track to become a lawyer until I took a class on eating disorders as an undergraduate. I only picked the class because it was in the afternoon and it let me sleep in! After I took the class, I was hooked. Studying and treating eating disorders combined all of the things I was passionate about: women’s empowerment, helping underserved populations, conducting important research, and improving overall mental health and quality of life for others. I ended up studying at SDSU/UCSD for my graduate degree, and then made my way to the Bay Area to work with Stanford’s Eating Disorders Team. I was so thrilled with my experience at Stanford that I stayed on the team and am now a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In 2017, I opened my own therapy practice in San Francisco serving clients coping with eating disorders and other mental health concerns.
What kind of treatment do you provide?
I provide individual treatment for binge eating disorder, bulimia, and other eating concerns. I also provide support for patients prior to and following bariatric surgery (including bariatric surgery evaluations). I combine empirically based treatment for eating disorders (cognitive behavioral therapy), with mindfulness and emotional regulation tools. I currently work with adults age 18 and up. I provide very affirming care to folks from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds, and I have a particular interest in treating individuals who identify as LGBTQIAA+.
Do you only work with eating disorders?
I work with a wide range of mental health issues outside of eating disorders. I find that these issues often co-occur with eating disorders as well. I treat trauma and PTSD, as well as anxiety, depression, adjustment to new life circumstances (therapy for new moms, people looking for more work/life balance, stress, and perfectionism). Although eating disorders brought me to the psychology field, I remain stimulated and always learning because I treat a wide range of issues. No one client is the same, and everyone’s unique life experience is taken into account when looking at their whole mental health experience.
How long have you been working with eating disorders overall, and how long did you work in San Diego, and then in San Francisco?
Learning the best treatments for eating disorders has taken me all over the country. I started working in the eating disorders field at Weill Cornell Medical School in 2008. I worked on both an inpatient unit and in clinical research. Following Cornell, I worked at UCSD’s Center for Health Eating and Activity Research (CHEAR) from 2011-2015. I then moved to the east coast for one year to obtain training from the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in trauma and PTSD. I came to Stanford in 2016 and have remained active in eating disorder treatment, individual therapy, and group therapy ever since.
Who are your favorite types of clients to work with?
This is such a difficult question for me! The reason that I love my job so much is that I have the privilege of working with folks with such unique concerns, diverse backgrounds, and therapy goals, that it’s hard to choose just a couple of types of clients I love to work with. However, there are some issues that are particularly near and dear to my heart:
+My heart goes out to clients who have been told from a young age that their body was less than ideal or had to be changed. So many of my clients were put on diets by their parents or grandparents, or they had to endure negative comments by family members or peers. A huge reason why I love my job is that I get to help people work through these issues. No one should be forced or shamed into thinking of their body negatively.
+I appreciate serving individuals who may not have seen their bodies or cultures represented positively in popular culture from a young age. When we are growing up and learning our identity - we look to our environment for cues about how we fit into the world. I think it is an injustice to individuals when they don’t see reflections of themselves portrayed positively in books, TV, or online. I am hoping for more and more mainstream characters to be people of color, body-size diverse, from different religious, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I really enjoy helping individuals come into their own confidence and begin to speak their own truth in the world. I find that when folks work with me in therapy, they often make very large professional and personal gains as a natural consequence of learning to value themselves and their own thought processes.
+I love working with people who struggle with perfectionism and work/life balance. I find huge value in helping people recalibrate their enjoyment of their lives and making sure that they are spending time on the things that matter most to them. Especially in San Francisco, there is so much focus on what people do for a living and how “successful” they are – when what we know about life satisfaction is that no one looks back at the end of their life and says, “Wow, I’m glad I stayed at the office until 8pm every night so I could get that promotion.” Instead, our lives are about building meaning, lasting relationships, and leaving our distinct mark on the world. I love helping people get there. These clients may have eating disorders or not. However, it is very hard to focus on growing all of the meaningful parts of our lives when much of our time is spent in eating disorder behavior or consumed by negative body image. I’m thrilled when an individual works on one area of their life in therapy (like body image, or work/life balance), and then once they start making progress, other parts of their life start falling into place (romantic relationships, increasing enjoyment, growing a bigger friend circle). Overall, therapy clients should know how grateful therapists are to be there for them through the ups and downs, and that we admire our clients’ courage to seek therapy, and we root for them day-in and day-out.
What happens during a first appointment with you?
The purpose of my first session is to get to know my client and to make sure they feel comfortable in the therapy setting. I spend a lot of time asking questions about a client’s current struggles, their history, any mental health challenges in the past, what strategies they have tried in the past. I also leave plenty of time for them to ask me questions about what therapy looks like, any questions about my training and qualifications, and to discuss whether I would be a good match for the client. I ask what kind of communication the client enjoys most; if they would like more directive action-planning, or if they would like to move at a more gentle pace.
One thing many people don’t know is that they can and should switch therapists if the fit is not ideal. As much as I value the great training that I have in therapeutic techniques, research has shown that the most important determining factor in successful therapy is whether the therapist and the client are a good match. I talk to all of my clients about how the first few sessions of therapy are a trial period to make sure that we work well together. If we are not a match, I am happy to reach out to other therapists in the area who may be a more ideal fit.
What do you wish people knew about getting treatment for eating disorders?
I wish more folks knew that eating disorders are treatable. I’ve met so many people who have been told that there is no treatment for eating disorders, when that is not true. I’ve had many clients walk into my office for other concerns (a breakup, stress, low mood) and they don’t even mention eating disordered behavior until I ask. When I ask why they aren’t seeking treatment for eating disorders, it is because a previous therapist or doctor told them that eating disorders can’t be healed. I specialize in empirically based treatment for bulimia and binge eating disorder. These clients can see rapid progress once they learn new tools to use on their own outside of the therapy room, and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve seen so many clients enter total behavioral remission of the eating disorders.
I also wish more people knew that eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes. Eating disorders do not discriminate based on weight, race, ethnicity, culture, or gender. The majority of individuals with eating disorders are not underweight. Our cultural stereotypes of eating disorders keep many people from seeking treatment. If anyone is struggling with overeating, restricting food, over-exercising, or experiencing guilt and shame around eating or their body – I highly recommend coming to talk to an eating disorder specialist.
How can people learn more and contact you?
Folks can learn more about my private practice at drjenniferdouglas.com. I am also delving into the world of Instagram and can be found at @DrJenSF.
Share one fun fact about you that most people don’t know.
I used to line-dance VERY regularly!
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Hey everyone, I really appreciate you reading my blog! Have a wonderful day. :)
Marianne
If you are struggling to find eating disorder treatment in San Diego, schedule a free, 15-minute phone consultation using the online scheduler (just click on the orange button), and I will help you get where you need to be!
You can find more information about me on Instagram @drmariannemiller or on my Facebook page.