DR MARIANNE MILLER

CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS

Interview with San Diego Eating Disorder Intervention and Treatment Consultant Jennifer Tarzia

Interview with San Diego Eating Disorder Intervention and Treatment Consultant Jennifer Tarzia

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone! I want to introduce you to Jennifer Tarzia, who is an amazing eating disorder professional in San Diego who is incredibly passionate about intervening with and supporting families with help when their loved one is struggling with an eating disorder. Jennifer’s company, Doyen Consulting Groups (formerly CBI Healthcare), works with individuals and families in finding the best fit for eating disorder treatment and care. She works virtually as well. Jennifer really has a heart for helping people, and she’s a wonderful person to boot!

Read More
How to Get Help for Binge Eating Disorder

How to Get Help for Binge Eating Disorder

Struggling with binge eating? Feeling out of control of your eating and don’t know where to turn? I have an excellent starting point for you. I discussed what binge eating disorder is and how to get help on a recent podcast on the Embodied & Well Mom Show that I did on with the fabulous Lindsay Stenovec, MS, RDN, CEDRD of San Diego’s Nutrition Instincts. I have provided a transcription of the main part of the podcast in this blog post. Enjoy!!

Read More
Sick of Body Shame and Diet Culture? Meet San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Amy Ornelas, RDN, CEDRD
Marianne Miller Marianne Miller

Sick of Body Shame and Diet Culture? Meet San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Amy Ornelas, RDN, CEDRD

Struggling with accepting your body size? You want to be healthy, but you’ve tried so many diets over and over and nothing works. You’re sick of the assumptions people make about you because you don’t fit the “norm” of what bodies should look like. Plus, you are just OVER what friends, family, co-workers, and even medical professionals say about your body and what you should and shouldn’t eat. It’s so challenging to navigate the messages we receive about our bodies and the food we eat. Especially in San Diego, where there’s such a focus on health, wellness, and appearance that it sometimes feels impossible to take a different perspective. Well, I have a WONDERFUL resource in San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Amy Ornelas, RDN, Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD). She wholeheartedly embraces the Health at Every Size (HAES) and intuitive eating approaches, and she loves working with people struggling with body shame and fighting diet culture that’s so pervasive in San Diego and elsewhere. Enjoy getting to know her!

Read More
Five Tips for Managing Overwhelming Emotions in Eating Disorder Recovery

Five Tips for Managing Overwhelming Emotions in Eating Disorder Recovery

Have you ever felt so filled with emotion that it was almost unbearable? Do your mind and body feel flooded with feelings such as fear, anger, disgust, frustration, irritability, anxiety, or sadness—to the point at which you feel almost paralyzed? Having an eating disorder in San Diego and elsewhere is so hard. Sometimes the overwhelming emotions can be triggered by things such as discomfort with food and with your body, negative interactions with others, and work and family stress. At such times, it seems like the emotions take over both your brain and your body, and you would do anything thing in the world to make them stop. It is so so hard. Thankfully, there are a few coping strategies that can help you navigate such situations. These coping skills come from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is an approach I integrate in my work with people struggling with eating disorders in San Diego.

Read More
Let's Talk About Sex and Body Image! Meet Sex Therapist Dr. Nicole Van Ness, LMFT

Let's Talk About Sex and Body Image! Meet Sex Therapist Dr. Nicole Van Ness, LMFT

Have you been struggling with your body image so much that it has been affecting your sex life? Is your partner complaining that you don’t want to have sex that frequently, and you feel hesitant to share that it’s because you feel uncomfortable in your own skin? Whether you live in San Diego or elsewhere, you likely know that having a regular and fulfilling sex life is important for intimate relationships. The reality is that A LOT of people struggle with sexual intimacy, and when you have an eating disorder and feel negatively about your body, it becomes a drain on your life and relationships.

Needing answers? I have brought top expert, as well as friend and former top doctoral student of mine, Dr. Nicole Van Ness. Nicole went to school and learned her trade as a sex therapist in San Diego, and in recent years she has moved to Texas, where she has a private practice and is adjunct faculty at Southern Methodist University. Nicole has maintained her California license as a marriage and family therapist, and she provides videoconference services for individuals and couples in San Diego and other parts of California.

Read More
Interview with UCSD Eating Disorder Psychologist Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall

Interview with UCSD Eating Disorder Psychologist Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall

Hi everyone! In the past few months, I’ve gotten to know Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall. Jennie is a gifted eating disorder therapist who works in the adult eating disorder treatment program the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Eating Disorders Center. She also has a private practice in Oceanside. When I first met Jennie, I totally connected with her because she lived in Colorado (my home state!), loves dogs (ditto!), and who works in the adult eating disorder treatment program the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Eating Disorders Center really smart (like me! ;) ). She is an overall authentic, genuine person who really cares about people recovering from eating disorders. Plus, Jennie is fun to hang out with, and so I’m so glad she is both my colleague AND my friend. I’m looking forward to you getting to know her. I also think that my interview with her will give you more information on adult eating disorder treatment at a partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP).

Read More
Let's Talk About Binge Eating! Meet UCSD CHEAR Director Dr. Kerri Boutelle

Let's Talk About Binge Eating! Meet UCSD CHEAR Director Dr. Kerri Boutelle

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to discuss innovative approaches to binge eating treatment that’s happening right here in San Diego! I’ve interviewed Dr. Kerri Boutelle, licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Public Health, and Psychiatry at University of California San Diego (UCSD). She is the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research (CHEAR), and is affiliated with Rady Children’s Hospital. Dr. Boutelle is also the senior supervising psychologist at the UCSD Eating Disorder and Treatment Program. I went to a training at CHEAR by Dr. Boutelle, and I was impressed with how dedicated she is to eating disorder research and treatment. I also really appreciated CHEAR’s focus on binge eating recovery.

***Trigger warning*** This blog post interview does include the terms weight loss, overweight, and obesity in the context of explaining CHEAR’s integrative binge eating and weight loss treatment program. I do believe that Dr. Boutelle does articulate how their approach is very different than “dieting” and absolutely does NOT advocate extreme behaviors that could trigger eating disorder symptoms.

Read More
Meet San Diego Eating Disorder Therapist Edie Stark, LCSW
Marianne Miller Marianne Miller

Meet San Diego Eating Disorder Therapist Edie Stark, LCSW

Hi everyone! Have you ever felt like you are suffering alone in your eating disorder in San Diego, and you don’t know where to turn? One great resource is private practice eating disorder therapist Edie Stark, LCSW (Licensed Social Worker). Her office is in Bankers Hill, which is in central San Diego. Edie is an amazing, authentic, experienced eating disorder therapist—plus she’s also a good friend of mine, and I want you all to get to know how smart and wonderful she is! Given her central location, she works with a lot of college students who attend universities like San Diego State (SDSU), University of San Diego (USD), and Point Loma Nazarene University. She even works with students from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). PLUS, she’s originally from New York and is a LCSW in that state, so she can provide virtual therapy (a.k.a. Telehealth) in the entire states of California and New York. All in all, an excellent eating disorder resource in San Diego and elsewhere!

Read More
Get to Know San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Lindsay Stenovec, MS, RDN, CEDRD

Get to Know San Diego Eating Disorder Dietitian Lindsay Stenovec, MS, RDN, CEDRD

Happy Friday, everyone! I’ve interviewed the very knowledgeable Lindsay Stenovec about her San Diego eating disorder practice. I absolutely love her passion about helping people heal from eating disorders. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD), which means that she has has tons of hours and extensive experience and training in eating disorders. She is also a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and definitely embraces the Health at Every Size (HAES) perspective. She used to work with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Eating Disorders Center, and she has since gone into private practice and is the head of Nutrition Instincts, a group of dietitians providing in-person and virtual nutrition counseling for people who want to find peace with food. She has a sub-speciality working with mothers. PLUS, she is the host of an excellent podcast called the Embodied and Well Mom Show, which addresses a lot of eating disorder and body image issues. All in all, a very accomplished woman!

Read More