Info

Theresa Kinsella is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CEDRD), intuitive eating counselor, and a qualified Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training instructor (MB-EAT). She has over 18 years of experience helping adults and adolescents find a neutral relationship with food and body. Theresa uses a non-diet approach and her work is grounded in the Health at Every Size® principles. She specializes in eating disorders, chronic dieting, sports nutrition and nutritional issues related to bariatric surgery.

Theresa approaches a client’s eating concerns with scientific evidence and compassion. She assesses and explores each client’s connection to the body, helping them learn how to identify and respond to internal cues. Her work also assesses self-care behaviors such as sleep and exercise that impact emotional resiliency and health behaviors. Theresa incorporates mindfulness practices to help clients build awareness, interrupt habitual patterns, and become more attuned to their physical needs.

In addition to her private practice, Theresa has also developed and delivers workshops for NASA’s leadership development program since 2003 and is member of the guest teaching faculty at Eating Disorders, Compulsions & Addictions (EDCAS) training program at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in Manhattan.

Previously, Theresa co-lead an eating disorder awareness sports nutrition program for student athletes at Steven’s University, was a staff dietitian at Weill Medical College of Cornell University’s bariatric surgery unit, taught as an adjunct faculty member at New York University and served as Director of Nutrition at both Betances Health Center and Iris House, Inc in New York, New York.

Theresa earned her undergraduate degree in Nutrition from the University of Buffalo and her Masters of Science in Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She completed her dietetic internship at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Each client has a unique set of challenges when it comes to self-care and eating. Theresa believes in learning about your past and current relationship with food to meet you where you are and help you develop the skills you need. Here is more information on some of the frameworks Theresa uses and the certifications she holds.

Theresa collaborates with clients through individual counseling in her Manhattan office, and through phone or Skype consultations for those outside New York. She also leads intuitive eating support groups. Theresa believes in a treatment team approach and collaborates with therapist, psychiatrists, physicians and other professionals to help give you the best possible care.

With more than a decade of experience and expertise, Theresa can help you develop the skills you need to get in touch your physical cues and regulate your eating. While working with Theresa you can expect to:

• Learn how to identify and trust your physical hunger and fullness cues
• Separate physical from emotional hunger
• Practice mindful, conscious eating
• Challenge disordered beliefs about food, exercise and body size
• Move away from rigid rules and a “diet mentality”

Many people attempt to lose weight due to misguided medical recommendations or to fit into culturally accepted body norms. Scientific research demonstrates that dieting does not result in lasting weight loss for over 85% of people. In fact, research indicates that dieting increases the likelihood of future weight gain, can damage psychological health, fosters body dissatisfaction, and increases the risk of eating disorders.

A non-diet approach is a way of approaching health and eating without rigid rules, calorie counting or measuring out food. Instead, clients learn how to identify and respond to internal body cues so that they can relearn how to trust their body and let go of unhelpful diet behaviors. A non-diet approach supports body acceptance and challenges thin ideal culture that does not acknowledge the genetic diversity of body sizes.

A self-care, weight inclusive framework for eating and movement that guides people through the process of letting go of dieting and rule-based eating by learning how to identify and honor the body’s hunger and fullness cues, remove obstacles to body attunement, meet physical and emotional needs and challenge unhelpful thought patterns. The process and practice of intuitive eating builds body trust, connection and appreciation.

Intuitive Eating was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It has been validated in over 100 studies to date.

For more information on Intuitive Eating, check out the Intuitive Eating book and workbooks.

Theresa is a certified intuitive eating counselor. Find other counselors in your area.

CEDRDs focus on physical and nutritional restoration, normalizing food habits, expanding food choices, changing attitudes and beliefs, and correcting misguided notions about eating, food, body size and shape. A CEDRD collaborates with a psychotherapist and other medical providers to treat the physical and mental health complications of eating disorders.

A CEDRD must complete a specialized training curriculum and over 2,500 supervised hours treating eating disorders to obtain the certification from the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp).

For a more detailed explanation on what a is necessary to become a CEDRD, click here (PDF). For more information on what a CEDRD does, click here (PDF).

The Health at Every Size® (HAES®) promotes sustainable self-care behaviors in individuals of all sizes without using weight as a health or outcome marker. It focuses on self-acceptance and seeks to reduce the damaging effects of internalized weight stigma, which has a negative impact on mental and physical health.

For more information on HAES:

• haescommunity.com
• sizediversityandhealth.org

Below, Theresa has compiled a handful of helpful links for those seeking a healthier relationship with food.

• Intuitive Eating Online Community
• Intuitive Eating Book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
• Find Local Intuitive Eating Counselors
• Binge Eating Disorder Association
• FEAST
• National Eating Disorder Association
• Find International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals Members
• “The Psychology of Self-Compassion” Article by Kristin Neff
• Radical Acceptance Book by Tara Brach
• “The Power of Vulnerability” TED Talk by Brené Brown

Clients are expected to pay the appointment fee at or prior to the time of service. Credit cards and checks are accepted. You may also be able to use a Flex or health savings account. Some insurance companies cover medical nutrition therapy while others do not. To determine if your provider will reimburse you for the expense, please contact them directly.

We are happy to provide invoices and CPT codes upon request.