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Eating Disorder Treatment for Andover, MA

Every clinician at Harborside has an extensive background in treating eating disorders alongside the anxiety, depression, and trauma histories that so often travel with them. That depth matters because eating disorders are rarely simple, and a clinician who only knows one piece of the picture can miss the rest. In Andover, where a lot of families are managing full schedules between school, sports, and commuting into Boston, that kind of informed, whole-picture care is often what a parent is searching for on behalf of a teenager, or what a working professional is looking for when they finally decide to address their own relationship with food.

Andover has a large population of families with school-age kids and a strong base of professionals who commute along 495 or into the city. Whether you are a parent trying to understand what is happening with your teenager, or an adult who has quietly managed disordered eating patterns for years while holding down a demanding job, Harborside works with people at both ends of that spectrum.

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Eating Disorder Treatment for people in Andover, MA

Harborside is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and delivers all care by video across the state. For Andover, that means you do not drive anywhere. You need a private space, a stable internet connection, and a phone, tablet, or computer with a camera. Sessions happen through a secure video platform that your clinician will send you a link for ahead of each appointment.

A first appointment typically runs longer than the follow-ups that come after it, since your clinician needs time to understand your history, current symptoms, and what you are hoping care will address. Follow-up appointments are shorter and happen on a schedule your clinician sets based on your needs, sometimes weekly, sometimes further apart as things stabilize. If medication is part of your care, prescriptions are sent electronically to a pharmacy of your choice near you in Andover, the same way they would be from any prescriber’s office.

Therapy sessions follow a similar rhythm: video-based, scheduled at a regular interval, and adjusted as needed in conversation with your therapist. Nothing about the video format changes the clinical standard of the work. It changes how you get to it.

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How telehealth care actually works

Eating disorder treatment at Harborside covers a range of presentations, including restrictive eating patterns, binge eating, purging behaviors, and the preoccupation with food, weight, or body image that can dominate someone’s daily thinking. These conditions rarely show up alone. Anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive patterns, and trauma histories are common alongside them, and treating one without attention to the others tends not to hold. Care here is built to address the eating disorder and what is sitting underneath or alongside it, whether that is a teenager whose eating changed after a stressful school year or an adult whose patterns have been present for a long time and are just now being named.

What we treat

The first appointment is a conversation, not a checklist. Your clinician will ask about your eating patterns, your physical health, your mood, and how long you have noticed things changing. For a teenager, a parent may be part of that first conversation, though your clinician will also want time alone with the teen. By the end of the appointment, you should have a clearer sense of what care might look like going forward, including whether medication management, therapy, or both make sense for your situation.

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 the clinical director, along with 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 medications sometimes used alongside eating disorder treatment. Full bios and credentials for each of them are 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 is also a registered art therapist, which can be a useful approach for clients, including teenagers, who find it hard to talk directly about body image or food. Between the prescribers and the therapy team, Harborside can build a care plan around what a specific person actually needs, rather than fitting them into one model.

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 if you have questions about cost, you can ask them before anything is booked.

What it costs

If you are ready to schedule, or you just want to talk through whether Harborside is a fit before committing to anything, reaching out is the first step. You can review the eating disorder treatment page for more on how this care works statewide, or look at the Massachusetts telehealth page for details on care across the state. Andover falls within the Merrimack Valley region that Harborside works with by video.

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. For guidance specific to your situation, talk with a licensed clinician.

Reviewed by Hannah Legesse, LICSW. Last reviewed: {LAST_REVIEWED}.

[CITATION: National Institute of Mental Health page on eating disorders, for general background on symptoms and health risks]

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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.

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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