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Eating Disorder Treatment for Stow, MA

Everyone on the Harborside clinical team has an extensive background in treating eating disorders and the conditions that tend to travel alongside them, from anxiety to mood concerns to obsessive patterns around control and body image. That depth matters, because eating disorders are rarely a single, isolated problem, and care that only looks at food misses the rest of the picture. In Stow, where households often juggle competitive school and sports schedules with two working parents, the person raising a concern about a teenager’s eating, or their own, is frequently doing so quietly, between other obligations, and looking for a clinician who already understands how these conditions actually present, not a generalist learning on the fly.

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Eating Disorder Treatment for people in Stow, MA

Stow sits among the towns along the Route 117 and 62 corridors where family life is organized around good schools, competitive youth sports, and a fair amount of driving between the two. Parents here tend to be the ones who first notice something is off: a daughter who has stopped eating lunch with friends, a son who has started weighing food or exercising in ways that feel compulsive rather than healthy. Adults in Stow carry their own versions of this, often managed privately for years while work and family responsibilities take priority. Harborside works with both groups, delivering assessment, therapy, and medication management by telehealth to people across Stow, without requiring anyone to add a drive to Boston or Worcester onto an already full week.

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How telehealth care actually works

Harborside is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and provides care to patients across the state by live video, using a secure platform that runs on a phone, tablet, or computer with a stable internet connection. There is no separate app to buy and no special equipment required. A first appointment typically runs longer, usually somewhere around an hour, so a clinician can take a full history, ask about eating patterns, mood, and physical health, and start to build a plan together with you. Follow-up appointments are shorter and scheduled at a pace that fits the clinical picture, sometimes weekly, sometimes further apart as things stabilize. If medication becomes part of the plan, prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy you choose, including pharmacies in and around Stow, so picking up a prescription does not require any extra coordination on your end.

What we treat

This service addresses restrictive eating patterns, binge eating, purging behaviors, and the anxious or perfectionistic thinking that often drives them. It also addresses the conditions that commonly show up alongside an eating disorder, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive patterns, and attention and focus difficulties, since treating eating behavior on its own rarely addresses what is underneath it. Care is built for both adolescents and adults, and it can include ongoing therapy, medication management, or a combination of the two depending on what the assessment shows.

What the first appointment involves

The first appointment is a conversation, not a test. A clinician will ask about eating history, physical health, family history, mood, and daily functioning, and will want to understand what has changed recently and what has already been tried. From there, you and the clinician talk through options, whether that means starting weekly therapy, adding a medication evaluation, or coordinating with a primary care provider on the medical side of things. Nothing is decided before that conversation happens, and you are part of shaping the plan, not just receiving it.

Who our clinicians are

Medication management and functional psychiatry at Harborside are performed by psychiatric nurse practitioners: Rachel Egan, RN PMHNP-BC, who is also the practice’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 conditions that often accompany an eating disorder. Full bios and credentials for each of them are on the team page.

Therapy and eating disorder work are delivered by the licensed therapy team: Hannah Legesse, LICSW, Tori Mahoney, LMHC, Jacquelyn Duford, LCMHC ATR, and Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Jacquelyn is also a registered art therapist, which can be a useful option for patients who find it hard to talk directly about body image or food. Between the prescribers and the therapy team, patients in Stow have access to both the medical and the therapeutic sides of eating disorder care in one practice.

What it costs

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 any questions about cost can be answered before you book anything.

Getting started

If you are ready to schedule, or you just want to ask a few questions first, you can reach out through the Harborside website to set up an initial appointment. There is no requirement to have a diagnosis already in hand or to know exactly which service you need. That is part of what the first conversation is for.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Harborside treat eating disorders that haven't been formally diagnosed?

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. For guidance specific to your situation, please schedule an appointment.

Yes, when a client is already working with one. Coordination is discussed during intake and ongoing treatment.

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.

Clients who want medication management can be connected with one of Harborside’s psychiatric nurse practitioners.

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.

Currently, eating disorder treatment at Harborside is available to clients located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

If you need help right now

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside Psychiatrics does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

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