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Overcome the cycle of binge eating and heal your relationship with food and your body. Learn all about binge eating disorder (BED) treatment here.
If you often eat large amounts of food quickly or feel out of control when eating, you’re not alone. BED is very common, and it can be difficult to stop binge eating on your own. Binge eating can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender or body type; symptoms vary widely.
If any of this sounds familiar, know that the right support can make all the difference.
Binge eating disorder can look like:
Binge eating disorder recovery looks different for everyone. Eating patterns ebb and flow. But we can learn how to manage our emotions in the process and identify the connection between our emotions and our eating habits. Recovery is a path and not a destination.
Binge eating treatment provides a safe, inclusive healing environment to help you break the binge eating cycle. Learn how to:
Binge eating is about much more than food and weight. There are many components to BED, including emotional, physical, behavioral, medical and nutritional factors. And this is why BED treatment programs are so powerful.
Binge eating treatment can help you:
Let go of judgment, shame and guilt. Discover the ways that media, diet culture and toxic shame combine to increase the risk of eating disorders.
Gain confidence in preparing and cooking meals and find common ground with peers who understand what you’re going through.
Learn from compassionate therapists, dietitians and doctors specializing in BED. Create your own goals and treatment plans with support from your treatment team.
Eating Recovery Center (ERC) is one of the only treatment centers in the U.S. offering specialized, targeted virtual and in-person programs to help you overcome binge eating. Explore our three distinct BED treatment offerings below:
Get compassionate care and evidence-based therapy from the comfort of home
Benefit from specialized, comprehensive programs for BED
Find recovery with others experiencing a variety of disordered eating symptoms
With Eating Recovery At Home, you’ll create a safe, healing environment in your own space. Address emotions, thoughts and behaviors related to binge eating and body image from the comfort and privacy of home. It's all about convenience, privacy and fitting treatment seamlessly into your everyday life. Here’s what you get with our virtual BED treatment program:
Eating Recovery At Home is a great option for you whether you are new to treatment or have been in treatment before.
There is a lot that we love about our virtual program. Here are a few highlights:
"Many of our patients tell us that the hardest part of treatment is the last day. They miss cheering their fellow participants on and following up with each other. This is why we refer you to our virtual alumni support groups after care ends -- so you can continue to enjoy peer support in a safe space."
Kristie Simmons, MS, RD, CEDS-C
Eating Recovery Center nutrition director of virtual services
In our virtual program, meals take place during the middle hour of the three-hour treatment day. Your therapist and dietitian will alternate providing meal support.
Nutrition education and experiential groups rotate throughout the week, covering cooking, grocery shopping, meal planning and more.
If you prefer in-person support and are able to travel to downtown Chicago, our in-person BED treatment program may be the best fit for you. Our specialized BED programs in Chicago include:
Please know that the majority of individuals in our Chicago program are not local; many travel from out of state for this specialized care. Housing is available if you need it while in PHP.
Chicago BED PHPTreatment takes place seven days per week, eight hours per day with: |
Chicago BED IOPTreatment takes place four days per week, three hours per day with: |
|---|---|
| Three weekly individual therapy or family therapy sessions | One weekly individual therapy or family therapy session |
| Two weekly sessions with a registered dietitian | Biweekly sessions with a registered dietitian |
| Two supported meals and one supported snack daily | One supported meal daily on treatment days |
| Two weekly sessions with a psychiatrist | |
| Primary care physician access, as needed | |
| Recovery Record mobile app to track food intake, thoughts, emotions and behaviors | Recovery Record mobile app to track food intake, thoughts, emotions and behaviors |
| Family education series and caregiver support groups | Family education series and caregiver support groups |
If you need housing while in our BED PHP in Chicago, we can provide you with a newly renovated, loft-style, furnished suite a few blocks from our treatment center. In the heart of downtown Chicago (just off the Magnificent Mile), you’ll find a secure condominium building where you will live with other residents receiving treatment. Accommodations for mobility concerns are available, and transportation can be coordinated to and from the treatment center. Please reach out to us if you have questions about housing or transportation.
When you start BED PHP treatment in Chicago, you will meet with a primary care physician or nurse practitioner who specializes in working with folks with BED. During this visit we will:
In Chicago, our multidisciplinary BED treatment approach includes care from a variety of experts in nutrition, behavioral therapy, psychiatry/medicine (PHP only) and more. You will receive:
Our core BED treatment programs in Chicago include several options to accommodate each individual’s unique needs. Both PHP and IOP include:
When you are working toward BED recovery, you shouldn't have to worry about insurance coverage and how to pay for treatment. We are here to help you understand your insurance benefits so that you can get the most out of treatment -- and move toward recovery. We will do everything we can to make the insurance and payment process as smooth as possible while you are in treatment. And, yes, many health insurance policies DO cover BED treatment.
Our patient access team is here to advocate for you. We can help you address financial challenges and work with you to get you the maximum coverage offered by your plan.
No matter what you're facing, long-lasting healing is possible — and the data shows it. View all the data at our treatment outcomes website.
*These treatment outcomes reflect the progress of patients discharged from our care between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, who completed admission and discharge assessments.
This program and group of exceptional people pulled me out of grief I wasn't even fully aware I was in. It is intensive and requires a lot of time but it is very much worth every moment. I learned a lot of new information; the basics were repeated and a good reminder of healthy habits.
I count myself very lucky to have been recommended to ERC and was welcomed with open arms. I had no idea how to recover from ED or how to help myself until I learned the necessary tools and coping mechanisms from ERC. Everyone is so kind and helpful, they really helped me turn my life around for the better.
My time at ERC was extremely therapeutic. Sam and Alexis made the program a success. It's not easy; it's hard work. However, the outcome is well worth it. If you are on the fence about enrolling, don't hesitate and go for it! Get the help you need!
I was able to receive helpful and supportive treatment virtually. It helped me break free of the binge cycle I was experiencing to begin healing my relationship with food and my body. I did not know what to expect when entering treatment and was pleasantly surprised with the tight-knit virtual community I was a part of.
BED therapy, available in all of our BED treatment programs, helps you overcome disordered eating thoughts and behaviors, including:
In our programs, you may encounter any or all of the following therapies shown to be most helpful for BED recovery.
Our primary therapy approach to BED treatment is CBT-E (cognitive behavioral therapy -- enhanced) that specially targets eating disorder thoughts and behaviors. This is currently the top evidence-based therapy addressing eating disorder thoughts and behaviors.
CBT-E can help you:
CBT-E and other therapies can help you recover from any co-occurring conditions that might be contributing to binge eating, including these mental health concerns:
Group BED therapy offers you many benefits. In addition to sharing your story with peers who understand what you are going through, you will learn many new techniques to help you:
"It makes sense that you are scared to talk about this. It is scary. But if you are willing to try the program out for two weeks, we promise you that it will be life changing."
Meal planning is an essential tool in all of our BED treatment programs, laying the groundwork for your recovery. This organized approach ensures that you meet your daily nutrition needs, preventing impulsive or emotional eating. Planning your meals in advance offers you multiple benefits:
Start to see food as safe again with help from our treatment team.
At ERC, we believe that all foods fit into your life, helping you get adequate nutrition. Our CARE (consistent, attuned, regular eating) approach provides dietary structure and consistency throughout the day, while allowing for flexibility in attunement with yourself. Our “balanced plate” approach focuses on hunger and fullness cues. With treatment, your hunger/fullness hormones may start to readjust. Thanks to structured eating, any cravings you have will start to feel less chaotic.
"Our program offers you freedom: freedom from shame, freedom from diet culture and freedom from a weight-centered medical system. We offer you a village where people understand you and you can find support."
Millions struggle with overeating, yet BED is often hidden in shame, secrecy and isolation. Shame is perhaps one of the most painful and uncomfortable feelings to tolerate. When people are feeling shame, they don’t just think "I have done something wrong"; shame feels like "I am wrong" or "I am unlovable" or even "I am broken."
Shame feels like not only have you done something wrong – but that you ARE wrong as a person. Being shamed early in life, whether you were abused, bullied or insulted, is associated with more severe binge eating behaviors. And feelings of shame can even lead you to binge. Many also feel shame after a binge, which keeps the eating disorder going. In our treatment programs, we explore shame as a root cause and driver of binge eating behaviors.
Shame often keeps BED hidden, but treatment can help you overcome these feelings and find support in a safe space. Shame is common, it is painful, but it can be overcome.
"More people struggle with binge eating and compulsive overeating than you may realize. Whether you are struggling a little or a lot, treatment can help. You’ll feel less alone as you learn new coping skills, including how to manage shame."
Colleen Soldano, LCPC
Eating Recovery Center, downtown Chicago, executive director
Support and connection from friends and loved ones isn’t just helpful for the people who struggle with binge eating. Support from loved ones can be life changing. This is why we strongly encourage and welcome support and connection from loved ones as a cornerstone on the path to recovery. We share several resources for family members, friends and caregivers below, including a link where you can reach out to us directly.
Your loved one has the power to heal themselves; they can harness that power when they are well supported and have appropriate care.
Think of ERC’s continuum of care as a “golden thread” providing you with smooth transitions and consistency throughout treatment. ERC’s continuum of care team has been intentionally and carefully trained to:
Our continuum of care model ensures that you will be connected with the right support at the right time, from the initial assessment all the way through to aftercare.
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Kristie Simmons, MS, RD, CEDRD-S
Kaila Peak-Rishel, LCSW, LMFT, CEDS-S
Eating Recovery Center is accredited through the Joint Commission. This organization seeks to enhance the lives of the persons served in healthcare settings through a consultative accreditation process emphasizing quality, value and optimal outcomes of services.
Organizations that earn the Gold Seal of Approval™ have met or exceeded The Joint Commission’s rigorous performance standards to obtain this distinctive and internationally recognized accreditation. Learn more about this accreditation here.
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