Eating Disorder Treatment for Lexington, MA
Every clinician at Harborside has a substantial background in treating eating disorders and the conditions that tend to travel alongside them, from anxiety to depression to obsessive patterns around control and achievement. That depth matters, because eating disorders rarely show up alone, and care that only looks at food misses most of the picture.
In Lexington, a lot of that picture is shaped by pace. This is a town with a strong school system, a high concentration of dual-career and highly educated households, and kids who are frequently managing advanced coursework, competitive sports, and college pressure at the same time. Parents in Lexington are often the ones doing the searching, sometimes after a pediatrician, a coach, or a school counselor has raised a concern. We work with families across Lexington who are trying to understand what they’re seeing and figure out what to do about it, and with adults in Lexington managing their own longstanding relationship with food, exercise, or body image under the weight of demanding careers and full households.
Eating Disorder Treatment for people in Lexington, MA
Harborside is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and delivers care by video across the state, including Lexington. You do not need special equipment. A phone, tablet, or computer with a camera and a stable internet connection is enough. Appointments happen through a secure video platform, and you get a link ahead of time.
A first appointment typically runs longer than a follow-up, since it involves a full history and a conversation about what has been happening and what you’re hoping to get from care. Follow-up appointments with a prescriber are usually shorter and focused on how things are going, how medication is or isn’t working, and what needs adjusting. Therapy sessions run on a standard hourly cadence, with frequency set based on what’s actually needed rather than a fixed schedule for everyone.
If medication is part of the plan, prescriptions are sent electronically to a pharmacy of your choosing near Lexington, the same way they would be from any prescriber’s office. You pick up or have delivered exactly as you would with any other prescription. Follow-up visits are scheduled based on the medication, the person, and how things are progressing, not on a one-size-fits-all interval.
How telehealth care actually works
Eating disorder treatment at Harborside addresses a range of presentations, including restrictive eating, binge eating, purging behaviors, and the anxious or compulsive thinking that often organizes itself around food, weight, or exercise. This includes anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and disordered eating patterns that don’t fit neatly into a single diagnosis but still affect daily life.
Because eating disorders are so often layered with anxiety, depression, trauma history, or attention and focus difficulties, care is built to look at the whole clinical picture rather than treating food as an isolated issue. For some people that means therapy alone. For others it means therapy combined with medication management, coordinated between the therapy team and the prescribing team so nothing is being addressed in a vacuum.
What we treat
The first appointment is a conversation, not a test to pass. Expect questions about your history with food, weight, and body image, along with your broader mental health history, medical background, and what’s going on in your life right now. If you’re booking for a teenager, a parent is typically involved in this first conversation, and the clinician will talk through how family involvement will work going forward.
By the end of the first appointment, you should have a working sense of what care might look like: whether therapy, medication management, or both make sense, how often you’d be seen, and what the next steps are. Nothing is decided before that conversation happens.
What the first appointment involves
Medication management and functional psychiatry at Harborside are performed by psychiatric nurse practitioners: Rachel Egan, RN PMHNP-BC, who is also Harborside’s clinical director, Emily Pardue, RN PMHNP-BC, and Kirstin Ritchie, RN PMHNP-BC. Each is qualified to evaluate, diagnose, and prescribe for mental health conditions, including the medication needs that sometimes accompany eating disorders. Full bios and credentials for each of them are available on the team page.
Therapy and eating disorder work are delivered by Harborside’s licensed therapy team: Hannah Legesse, LICSW, Tori Mahoney, LMHC, Jacquelyn Duford, LCMHC ATR, and Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Jacquelyn Duford is also a registered art therapist, which brings an additional tool into sessions for people who process better through means other than talking alone. Between the prescribing team and the therapy team, care for Lexington patients is coordinated rather than siloed.
Who our clinicians are
Harborside is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly for appointments. Current fees for an initial appointment and for follow-up appointments are listed on the pricing page, and questions about cost can be answered before anything is booked.
What it costs
If you’re in Lexington and trying to decide whether to call, you don’t need to have a diagnosis figured out first. A first appointment is designed to help sort that out. You can review the eating disorder treatment page for more on how the service works generally, the Massachusetts telehealth page for how care is delivered statewide, or the MetroWest region page for context on how this fits with care across the broader area. If anxiety is part of what’s going on alongside eating concerns, the anxiety treatment page has more detail on that piece specifically.
Getting started
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside does not provide emergency or after-hours care.
This page is educational and is not medical advice. It does not create a provider-patient relationship. Eating disorders carry medical risk, and anyone concerned about a physical health emergency related to eating or weight should seek immediate medical attention. [CITATION: National Eating Disorders Association or NIMH page on eating disorders, for general definitions and risk information]
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Harborside treat eating disorders that haven't been formally diagnosed?
Yes. Many clients start therapy for a difficult relationship with food or body image before, or without, a formal diagnosis.
Will my therapist coordinate with my doctor or dietitian?
Yes, when a client is already working with one. Coordination is discussed during intake and ongoing treatment.
Does Harborside provide medical monitoring or meal planning?
No. Eating disorder therapy at Harborside is talk therapy. Medical monitoring, lab work, and meal planning are handled by outside providers and coordinated with as needed.
What if I also need medication for anxiety or depression?
Clients who want medication management can be connected with one of Harborside’s psychiatric nurse practitioners.
Is this a fit for someone who needs a higher level of care?
No. Outpatient therapy isn’t appropriate for every situation. If a higher level of care is needed, your therapist will discuss that directly rather than continuing with weekly sessions alone.
Is this service available outside Massachusetts and New Hampshire?
Currently, eating disorder treatment at Harborside is available to clients located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.