Eating Disorder Treatment in Bergen County, NJ
A healthier relationship with food and your body is possible.
If eating, body image, or compulsive behaviors leave you feeling ashamed, out of control, or stuck in secrecy, evidence-based eating disorder treatment can help you regain control, reduce anxiety, and build a healthier relationship with food and your body.
Compassionate, Specialized Care for Eating Disorders at Clear Light Therapy
At Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ, we provide expert, evidence-based eating disorder treatment with a warm, supportive approach.
Eating disorders can make you feel:
Consumed by thoughts about food, weight, or body image
Fearful of eating or gaining weight
Exhausted by guilt, rituals, or perfectionism
Trapped, unsure how to break free
Our action-focused therapy helps you regain control and start your recovery journey.
Understanding Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are not choices or phases, they are complex mental health conditions that often develop alongside anxiety, OCD, trauma, perfectionism, or chronic stress.
They affect how you think about food, weight, body image, and control, and can take over daily life.
Common signs include:
Obsessive thoughts about food, weight, or body image
Restricting food or avoiding entire food groups
Binge eating or emotional eating
Purging, overexercise, or compensatory behaviors
Intense guilt or shame around eating
Fear of weight gain
Rigid rules or rituals around meals
If you or a loved one are experiencing these struggles, you are not alone. At Clear Light Therapy, we provide compassionate, evidence-based eating disorder treatment to clients in Ho-Ho-Kus, Alpine, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Englewood Cliffs, Franklin Lakes, Ridgewood, Haworth, Tenafly, Woodcliff Lake, and throughout Bergen County, NJ.
Recovery is possible with the right support, guidance, and specialized care.
Our Approach to Eating Disorder Treatment:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT‑E)
CBT‑E helps challenge rigid rules, obsessive thinking, and fear-based avoidance, replacing them with flexible, values-driven choices.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT builds self-compassion and psychological flexibility, teaching clients to change their relationship with distressing thoughts instead of being controlled by them.
Exposure-Based Interventions
Clients gradually face feared foods, body image triggers, and anxiety-driven rituals, building confidence and breaking avoidance cycles.
Body Image Work
We help clients cultivate a healthier, more peaceful relationship with their bodies, reducing obsessive monitoring and self-criticism.
Nutritional & Medical Collaboration
We coordinate with dietitians, physicians, and psychiatrists to ensure full-spectrum support for physical and mental health.
Eating Disorders We Treat
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) – Restriction, fear of weight gain, obsessive control
Bulimia Nervosa – Binge/purge cycles and obsessive energy expenditure
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – Emotional eating, loss of control
ARFID – Extreme food avoidance and nutritional gaps
Disordered Eating & Body Image Issues – Anxiety, compulsive behaviors, self-criticism
We specialize in treating eating disorders that occur alongside anxiety or OCD, providing integrated, evidence-based care for lasting recovery.
“Full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. Early detection and intervention are important.” – International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP)
Frequently Asked Questions: Eating Disorder Treatment in Bergen County, NJ
Q: What eating disorders do you treat at Clear Light Therapy in New Jersey?
We treat the full spectrum:
Anorexia nervosa — restriction, fear of weight gain, obsessive food rules
Bulimia nervosa — binge-purge cycles, secrecy, shame
Binge eating disorder (BED) — emotional eating, loss of control
ARFID — extreme food avoidance based on texture, smell, or fear
Orthorexia — obsessive focus on "clean" or "healthy" eating
Disordered eating — rigid food rules, food anxiety, chronic dieting
Body image distress — obsessive body checking, body dysmorphia
We also specialize in eating disorders that occur alongside OCD, anxiety, or perfectionism, one of the most underserved and undertreated presentations in New Jersey. Learn more about our eating disorder treatment here.
Q: What makes Clear Light Therapy different from other eating disorder therapists in NJ?
Three things set us apart. First, our lead clinician Dana Colthart is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS), the most rigorous credential in the eating disorder field, held by very few therapists in Bergen County or New Jersey. Second, we specialize exclusively in eating disorders, OCD, and anxiety, we are not generalists who occasionally see eating disorder clients. Third, Dana's dual specialization in both eating disorders and OCD means clients whose food anxiety has an obsessive, compulsive quality receive integrated specialist treatment instead of being bounced between providers. Learn more about our CEDS credential here.
Q: Are eating disorders a choice or a phase?
No and this is one of the most damaging myths about eating disorders. Eating disorders are serious, complex mental health conditions with biological, psychological, and environmental roots. They are not about vanity, attention-seeking, or weakness. They typically develop alongside anxiety, perfectionism, trauma, OCD, or a deep need for control and they have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric diagnosis. Nobody chooses an eating disorder. And nobody recovers by simply "deciding to eat normally." Specialized, evidence-based treatment is what creates lasting change.
Q: What are the warning signs of an eating disorder?
Signs to watch for in yourself or a loved one:
Obsessive thoughts about food, calories, weight, or body shape
Restricting food, skipping meals, or eliminating entire food groups
Binge eating episodes followed by guilt, shame, or compensatory behaviors
Rigid, inflexible rules around meals and eating
Excessive exercise even when sick or injured
Withdrawing from social situations involving food
Intense fear of weight gain or distorted body image
Disappearing after meals, food rituals, or hiding eating behaviors
Constant fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, or feeling cold
You don't need to have every symptom to deserve help. If food and body image are consuming significant mental energy and affecting your quality of life, that is enough.
Q: Can eating disorders occur alongside OCD or anxiety?
Yes and more often than most people realize. Rigid food rules, compulsive calorie counting, obsessive body checking, fear of contamination in food, and eating rituals that "must" be performed in a specific way all mirror OCD compulsions. Many people with eating disorders have co-occurring OCD, generalized anxiety, perfectionism, or social anxiety. At Clear Light Therapy, we treat the full picture, not just the eating disorder in isolation. This integrated approach produces significantly better outcomes. We serve clients with co-occurring eating disorders and OCD throughout Bergen, Monmouth, Essex, Hudson, and Somerset counties in New Jersey.
Q: What treatment approaches does Clear Light Therapy use for eating disorders?
We use the most effective evidence-based treatments available:
CBT-E — Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the gold-standard protocol specifically designed for eating disorders
ERP — Exposure and Response Prevention, for clients whose food anxiety has an OCD-like quality
ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, to build psychological flexibility and self-compassion
Body image therapy — reducing obsessive body checking and rebuilding body trust
Exposure-based food work — gradually facing feared foods and eating situations
Collaborative care — coordinating with dietitians, physicians, and psychiatrists as needed
Every treatment plan is personalized. No cookie-cutter protocols.
Q: Do you treat eating disorders in teenagers in Bergen County, NJ?
Yes. Eating disorders most commonly emerge during adolescence and the teenage years, amplified by social media, diet culture, academic pressure, and comparison in competitive Bergen County communities like Ridgewood, Tenafly, Franklin Lakes, and Ho-Ho-Kus. Early, specialized treatment is one of the most important factors in long-term recovery. We work with teens and their families in-person in Englewood, NJ and via telehealth across all of New Jersey. Family involvement is incorporated as clinically appropriate.
Q: Do you treat eating disorders in adults and women in New Jersey?
Yes and adult eating disorders are far more common and far more underdiagnosed than most people realize. Many women across Bergen County, Monmouth County, and Essex County have been living with disordered eating for years, sometimes decades, without ever receiving the right specialized help. Professionals, mothers, executives, and high-achievers in communities like Short Hills, Rumson, Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, and Montclair quietly struggle while maintaining every appearance of success. Eating disorders in adults are absolutely treatable. It is never too late. We provide specialized adult eating disorder treatment in-person in Englewood and via telehealth statewide.
Q: Is eating disorder treatment available in Monmouth, Essex, Hudson, and Somerset County NJ?
Yes, via telehealth, which is fully effective for eating disorder treatment. We serve:
Monmouth County — Rumson, Red Bank, Colts Neck, Fair Haven, Holmdel, Marlboro
Essex County — Short Hills, Montclair, Livingston, Maplewood, West Orange
Somerset County — Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Peapack-Gladstone, Bridgewater
Hudson County — Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken
Plus in-person at our Englewood, NJ office for all of Bergen County.
Q: How is eating disorder therapy different from seeing a nutritionist?
A nutritionist addresses what and how much you eat. Therapy addresses the fear, anxiety, shame, perfectionism, and emotional pain underneath the behaviors, which is what actually drives the eating disorder. Without treating the psychological roots, nutritional changes rarely stick long-term. The most effective eating disorder treatment combines both, which is why we actively coordinate with dietitians and medical providers as part of a collaborative care team.
Q: Do I need to be at a low weight or "sick enough" to get eating disorder treatment?
No and this belief keeps far too many people from getting help. Eating disorders exist across all body sizes, weights, and ages. Suffering is not measured by a number on a scale. If obsessive thoughts about food, rigid eating rules, bingeing, purging, food anxiety, or body image distress are affecting your daily life, relationships, or mental health, you are sick enough. You deserve specialized help now, not when things get worse.
Q: Are you in-network with insurance for eating disorder treatment?
We are out-of-network. Many clients across Bergen, Monmouth, Essex, and Somerset counties use out-of-network benefits, which can significantly offset session costs. We provide superbills for reimbursement. Call your insurance's member services and ask: "What are my out-of-network mental health benefits?" For the level of CEDS-specialist care required to treat eating disorders effectively, most clients find this the most meaningful investment they make in their recovery.
Q: How do I get started with eating disorder treatment at Clear Light Therapy?
Free 15-minute consultation, same-week openings, no waitlist. Dana personally responds within 24 hours. We'll talk through what you or your loved one is experiencing without judgment, explain exactly how treatment works, and make sure we're the right fit. In-person in Englewood, NJ or telehealth anywhere in New Jersey. Contact us here.