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Eating Disorder Treatment for Brookline, 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 depression to obsessive patterns around food and control. That depth matters in a city like Brookline, where many of the people who reach out have already read the research, tried an app, or talked to a friend in a lab coat before they ever call us. You are not looking for someone to explain what an eating disorder is. You are looking for a clinician who can keep pace with a full picture of your health and treat you as the capable adult you are.

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Eating Disorder Treatment for people in Brookline, MA

Brookline is dense, young, and highly educated, full of graduate students, postdocs, hospital staff, and professionals who commute into Boston. Many of the people we work with here are managing eating disorder symptoms alongside a demanding course load, a lab schedule, or a job that does not leave much room for missed time. Some have been in treatment before, in a college health center or a prior provider, and want a clinician who will engage with that history rather than start from zero. Others are naming the problem for the first time and want a process that treats them as someone capable of understanding their own diagnosis and care plan.

Care with Harborside is built around that expectation of directness. We talk about what we are seeing, why a particular medication or therapy approach makes sense, and what to expect from the appointment ahead, without oversimplifying it.

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How telehealth care actually works

Harborside is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and delivers all care by video across the state, including to patients in Brookline. There is no local office to visit and no waiting room. You log in from wherever you have privacy and a stable internet connection, using a computer, tablet, or phone with a camera and microphone.

  • Technology: a secure video link is sent ahead of each appointment. No special software or download is required beyond a browser.
  • Session length: initial evaluations typically run longer than follow-up visits, since the first appointment covers history, current symptoms, and any prior treatment. Follow-up sessions are shorter and focused.
  • Frequency: how often you’re seen depends on where you are in care. Some patients start with more frequent check-ins and space them out over time; others need only periodic medication follow-up alongside separate therapy sessions.
  • Prescriptions: when medication is part of your care, prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice in or near Brookline, the same way a local prescriber would send them.

The clinical relationship works the same way it would in person. The difference is that you don’t have to find parking or take a longer break from work to get to it.

What we treat

We work with a range of eating disorder presentations, including restrictive eating patterns, binge eating, purging behaviors, and the anxious or perfectionistic thinking that often drives them. Eating disorders rarely show up alone. We also address the conditions that commonly accompany them, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive patterns, and difficulty with attention or focus, since treating one piece in isolation from the rest tends not to reflect how these conditions actually function in a person’s life.

Care can include medication management, individual therapy, or both together, depending on what your evaluation points to and what you and your clinician decide makes sense.

What the first appointment involves

The first appointment is an evaluation, not a commitment to a specific treatment plan. Your clinician will ask about your eating patterns, your physical and mental health history, any prior treatment or diagnoses, and what’s brought you to reach out now. If medication is a relevant option, that conversation happens here too, including what a medication might involve and what the alternatives are. You leave with a working plan, not a diagnosis handed to you without explanation.

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 medication questions that come up in eating disorder care. Full bios and credentials for each clinician are available on the team page.

Therapy and eating disorder-focused clinical work are delivered by our licensed therapy team: Hannah Legesse, LICSW, Tori Mahoney, LMHC, Jacquelyn Duford, LCMHC, ATR, and Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Depending on your needs, you may work with a prescriber, a therapist, or both, coordinating as a single care team rather than two separate tracks.

What it costs

Harborside is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly for appointments. Current fees for an initial evaluation and for follow-up appointments are listed on our pricing page. If you have questions about cost, we’re glad to answer them before you book anything.

Getting started

You can request an appointment online or reach out with questions first if you’re not ready to book. Most people start with an initial evaluation to talk through symptoms and history before any treatment plan is set. From there, you and your clinician decide together what ongoing care looks like, whether that’s medication, therapy, or both.

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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. An eating disorder evaluation with a Harborside clinician is required before any treatment plan is developed.

[CITATION: National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) screening and information resources, for general education on eating disorder symptoms and warning signs]

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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