Eating Disorder Therapy That Treats the Roots,
Not Just the Symptoms
Whether you're deep in restriction, stuck in a “sort of” recovered middle place, or exhausted by a recovery that feels like permanent white-knuckling — this work is different.
I'm Chloe Cox, LMFT, an eating disorder therapist and EMDR specialist in Tustin, Orange County, and I treat what's underneath the behaviors, not just the behaviors themselves.
What eating disorder recovery gets stuck on:
Restriction that persists even when you've decided, sincerely, to stop
Fear foods you can name but can't seem to neutralize
Fear of weight gain that stays loud no matter how much body-acceptance content you consume
Recovery burnout — doing everything "right" and feeling like you're holding recovery together with sheer effort
Knowing all the nutrition facts and still feeling terror at the table
Your symptoms made sense once…
An eating disorder is rarely about food.
It's a protective pattern — a solution your younger self found to a problem that felt unsolvable.
Control when life was chaotic. Smallness when visibility felt dangerous. Achievement in a body when achievement was the only reliable source of worth.
Honoring that logic isn't excusing the disorder; it's the only honest starting point for dismantling it. You can't fight your way out of a pattern that's still protecting you from something. You have to heal the something.
Why insight alone hasn't fixed it:
Most of my clients arrive with excellent insight. They've done treatment, read the books, and can articulate their patterns precisely. What hasn't happened is a felt shift — the nervous system still codes food and weight gain as threat. This is where combining eating disorder treatment with EMDR trauma processing changes the trajectory. We work on present-day patterns and skills and reprocess the experiences that installed the fear in the first place: the body comments, the dieting years, the family dynamics, the moments that taught you that safety required control. Read more about how EMDR works in eating disorder recovery.
What treatment looks like:
We begin with a thorough assessment of your history with food, your body, and the experiences around them.
Treatment typically weaves together evidence-based eating disorder work with EMDR reprocessing, paced to keep you steady.
I collaborate closely with dietitians, physicians, and psychiatrists — if you already have a team, I'll join it; if you need one, I'll help you build it.
I provide outpatient care; if your needs call for a higher level of support, I'll say so directly and help you get there. That honesty is part of premium care.