A Virtual Treatment Program for Those Healing from Binge Eating
At Center for Discovery, we know spaces that foster safety and vulnerability can have a positive impact on healing from an eating disorder. That is why we are invested in creating inclusive and accessible virtual program communities, one of which is for adults and adolescents who struggle with eating disorders that involve binge eating: binge eating disorder (BED), bulimia nervosa (BN) and other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED).
Path to Peace is uniquely designed to honor the nuances of bingeing, the deceptiveness of diet culture and the wisdom in how patients cope. Here is what makes Path to Peace programming so distinct:
- Accessible evening hours of 5:30-8:30 PM
- Affinity groups that honor unique lived experiences
- Patient-selected groups, flexible hours and personalized scheduling of programs
- Unique curriculum in which groups are designed to focus on the nuances of bingeing
“Community and self-compassion are much better catalysts for change than shame and blame.”
LB/Lindsay Birchfield (they/them),
CFD Path to Peace Executive Director
Path to Peace Locations & Care Options
Path to Peace is currently available in 6 states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas & Washington. There are 3 ways patients can access binge eating care:
1. National Path to Peace Group
- For all outpatient (OP) patients needing binge eating support
- 1-hour groups Mon.-Thu.
2. Virtual Path to Peace Program
- For CFD partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) patients
-
Serving adults with BED, or BN and OSFED
3. Hybrid Path to Peace Program
- For CFD PHP patients wanting in-person and virtual support
- Serving adults with BED (binge eating disorder), or BN and OSFED
Here’s a sample of what a typical week looks like in Path to Peace programming:
Core Values of Binge Eating Care
Patient-lived experience
Community Healing
Accessibility
Gender affirmative care
Health at Every Size®
Shame resiliency
Trauma-informed nutrition care
Community support
Alumni support
“I was surprised how fast I felt heard and supported as soon as I shared about what was going on with me.”
Path to Peace alumni
Treatment that Emphasizes Connection Over Correction
Disordered eating patterns are often strategies that individuals use to cope with things like minority stress, body oppression and diet culture, to name a few. Path to Peace tracks progress through a patient’s experiences of agency and choice rather than behavior-abstinence.
“Being in a community with folks that also struggled with something I kept a secret for so long was incredibly meaningful.”
Path to Peace alumni
Deconstructing Myths about Binge Eating
The Path to Peace team offers our patients communities that are tailored to help increase awareness of binge eating disorders and deconstruct the myths of disordered eating:
- Bingeing is so much more complicated than just “overeating” or “emotional eating.”
- Binge eating is not an addiction. It can serve the function as a survival response to trauma, an assimilation tactic and/or or a self-soothing response to manage anxiety and shame.
- Binge eating is not any less serious than any other eating disorder behavior
- Binge eating disorder impacts all body sizes.
- Many individuals struggling with disordered eating are trauma survivors
- Despite the poor diagnosis rate, binge eating disorder affects 3-5 million Americans.
Meet the Path to Peace Care Team
LB/Lindsay Birchfield (they/them),
MS, RD, CEDRD-S
Grace Whorley (she/her),
MA, LMHC, LPC
Sammy Paulsen (she/her),
MS, RD
Jenna Rudnitskas (she/her),
MA, LMHC, LPC
Accepting Most Major Insurance Policies
Center for Discovery is a preferred provider with most major insurance companies. By submitting your insurance information, our team of experienced insurance verification specialists will confirm not only if the level of care you are seeking is covered by your policy but also determine what, if any, out-of-pocket costs you would incur.
Find Support for Binge Eating
If you or a loved one needs care for binge eating, Center for Discovery can help. For more information, contact us today.
*Health at Every Size® and HAES® are registered trademarks of the Association for Size Diversity and Health and used with permission.