Affirming Support

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We are here to provide affirming and effective support for neurodivergent people around food and eating.

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Whether you are autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive, sensory processing differences, seizure disorders, OCD or otherwise identify as neurodivergent, you are in the right place.

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Struggling with Eating?

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We are here to help you/your loved one with food struggles like:

 

• Skipping meals 

• Forgetting to eat

• Overwhelm/avoidance with grocery shopping 

• General anxiety around eating 

• Shame or guilt around eating

• Negative thought patterns around eating 

• Negative thought patterns around body size/shape 

• Feeling gross in your body during/after eating 

• GI problems causing fear with eating 

• Pain with eating or after eating

• Underfueling in athletics 

• Binge eating 

• Throwing up after eating 

• Using exercise to compensate for eating 

• Unable to eat enough due to fear of weight gain 

• Unable to eat enough due to fear of vomiting or choking 

• Poor appetite 

• Lack of motivation to prepare food or eat food  

• Obsessive thoughts or behaviors around food 

• Anxiety around going out to restaurants 

• Anxiety around family or social gatherings that involve eating 

• Hiding food/hiding eating

 

 

Vulnerable, NOT Broken

We are here to remind you/your loved one that…

 

You are not broken. 

 

It’s common for neurodivergent people to get out of balance with eating. It doesn’t mean anything negative about you as a person. 

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Neuro-different people are vulnerable to developing persistent problematic patterns with eating because of:

 

• differences in the nervous system, brain and body,
   

• and the impact of being a neuro-different person in a neurotypical world. 

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These vulnerabilities include:

 

• Challenges with the practical aspects of eating due to:​
   

  • differences in executive functioning like time management and planning,

  • differences in focus (like getting stuck in project mode and forgetting to eat),

  • differences in motivation and reward pathways and

  • differences in sleep/wake cycles.
     

• Challenges with identifying hunger cues due to differences in interoceptive awareness, body awareness and body attunement. 
   

• Needs for specific foods and eating environments due to sensory differences, social differences and physical sensitivities.
   

• Overall higher anxiety and fear around food due to nervous system tendencies toward hypoarousal or hyperarousal, pain or GI distress with eating or after eating,  and/or eating needs being unmet, invalidated, mocked or pathologized. 
   

• Vulnerability to be influenced by parents, social media, athletic coaches or culture at large to follow restrictive diets due to pressure to ‘perform normalcy’ to be safe and accepted and the high drive to be good, excel at sports and/or optimize health.
   

• Vulnerability to become stuck in persistent problematic patterns with food due to the safety, familiarity and coping mechanisms these patterns can provide for a neurodivergent person dealing with loneliness, overwhelm, overload, rejection sensitivity, alexithymia, emotional processing differences, and feelings of inadequacy.
   

• Likelihood of failure or harm in traditional one-size-fits-all eating disorder treatment approaches that are not designed for neurodivergent people and lead to worsening issues with food and increased shame and hopelessness. 

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Here to Help

Eating issues are rough. You deserve  individualized support that actually helps you. 

 

We are here to support you/your loved one…

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Client focus

 

• Individuals (16+) in one-on-one therapy
   

• Couples where food/eating/body image  is impacting the relationship
   

• Parent(s) seeking support to help their child (tween, teen or young adult) with food and eating.  

 

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About Us

 

We are a team of clinicians dedicated to helping neurodivergent people with food and eating.  

 

While there are common themes that we see with neurodivergent folks and eating, each of our clients is unique. We are eager to learn about your individual story and experiences with food. 

 

We draw upon a range of approaches including CBT/DBT, relational therapy, narrative therapy, somatic therapy, internal family systems, social justice focused therapy and family based treatment.

 

We figure out together what works for you. 

 

Danielle B. Grossman

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #42516

Daniellebgrossmanmft@gmail.com

 

• Lead clinician and developer of Neuro-Inclusive Nourishment  

• 20 years experience working in the field of eating disorders, disordered eating and neurodivergence 

• Read more about Danielle here

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Lauren Florio

• Board registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #139592 (supervised by Dr. Harry Motro, clinical director).

• Neuro-Inclusive Nourishment Specialist

• Co-Founder of She Rocks the Spectrum

• The therapeutic modalities used in neuro-inclusive nourishment work:

  •  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT),

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma processing.

• Read more about Lauren here​

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Monica Attia

• Board registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #141520 (supervised by Dr. Harry Motro, clinical director).

• Neuro-Inclusive Nourishment Specialist

• Therapist at She Rocks the Spectrum

• The therapeutic modalities used in neuro-inclusive nourishment work:

  • Brainspotting 

  • Internal Family Systems

  • Narrative Therapy

• Read more about Monica here

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