about me
Hi, I'm Jessica! I'm a Registered Dietitian and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, but more importantly, I'm endlessly passionate about untangling the deeper reasons why we struggle with food in the first place.
If you've made it to this page, I'm guessing you're wondering who I am and whether I'd be the right fit for you. Fair question.
I've spent the past 13+ years helping teens, adults, and families heal from eating disorders across residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, transitional, and outpatient settings.
But what probably tells you more about me is this:
I care less about telling my clients what to eat, and a lot more about helping them unpack the fears, beliefs, perfectionism, and experiences that shape our relationship with food, and getting curious enough to begin changing them.
Clients often tell me they appreciate that I’m honest, easy to talk to, and able to make difficult conversations feel less intimidating.
I take this work seriously.
But I don’t believe everything has to feel heavy all the time for healing to be meaningful.
Sometimes the most powerful moments happen in the middle of a hard conversation followed by a dash of sarcasm five seconds later.
I'm kind of obsessed with those moments in a session when something finally clicks and a client says:
"Ohhh... that actually makes sense."
Because when things finally make sense, they often feel a lot less scary.
Most people are not actually struggling because of food.
They’re struggling because food has become tangled up with fear, control, shame, identity, anxiety, perfectionism, emotions, family dynamics, or years of messages about what their body is “supposed” to look like.
That’s why my work goes far beyond handing someone a meal plan and sending them on their way.
One thing I say often in sessions is: “Let’s get curious about that.”
my approach
In fact, many of my clients would probably roll their eyes reading this because they hear me say it so often.
But there's a reason I keep coming back to it.
My goal is to create a space where we can set aside the judgment enough to actually understand what’s going on underneath the surface.
Instead of immediately judging behaviors, thoughts, or fears, we slow down and explore them together.
Instead of:
“Why can’t I just stop doing this?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
We start asking:
“Why does this food feel so scary?”
“What is this behavior trying to do for me?”
“Where did this belief come from?”
Alongside deeper inner exploration, I also provide practical nutrition guidance, meal plans, education, and help understanding what your body physically needs.
I love helping clients make sense of what's happening in their body and their brain.
Because both matter.
Curiosity helps us understand what's underneath the surface.
Education helps things click.
And practical support helps turn that understanding into meaningful change.
Personally, I hate talking about my feelings and issues, but with Jessica, everything felt so easy.
what its like working with me
Greeting me at the door with a smile always brightened my mood even on the hardest days. She listened to anything and everything I had to say and made me feel heard. I never felt alone because Jessica would bring up personal stories and events that related to what I was going through. Hearing that I am not the only one struggling or feeling this way helped me open up more than I would have ever imagined.
- Riley, former client
I have been in recovery for over 20 years and it is my own battle with an eating disorder and work with a remarkable dietitian that inspired me to help others navigate their own path to healing.
I know exactly how overwhelming it can feel when your brain is constantly calculating, judging, controlling, overthinking, or obsessing about food and your body.
I also know how isolating it can be.
My lived experience alongside years of clinical work, allows me to deeply understand what my clients are going through.
a little bit of my story...
My Background & Credentials
After high school (and very much still in my own eating disorder) I completed my undergraduate degree in Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and my Dietetic Internship & Master’s Degree at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
After I completed graduate school, I worked for several years in weight management before I really realized that the systems I was trained in were riddled with weight bias and that I was helping people manage their health with black and white rules that I believe promote eating disorders.
I was horrified to realize I was part of the problem with the way we approach nutrition and health in our culture.
So, I returned to my roots and made a shift into working with eating disorders, disordered eating, and exposing diet culture for what it is — an insidious, money-hungry system that capitalizes on our insecurities and perpetuates the faulty belief that health and happiness are size-dependent.
Now, I have 13+ years specializing in eating disorder treatment across residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, transitional, and outpatient levels of care. I am a proud Health at Every Size (HAES®) practitioner, trained as a master’s level Certified Eating Disorder Specialist & Consultant (CEDS-C), and am co-founder of BeyondWell KC, a group practice dedicated to the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating in Kansas City.
As a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist & Consultant, I am honored to now be able to combine my knowledge, experience, and passion for this work with my love for teaching to guide other dietitians in gaining the knowledge and expertise needed to effectively treat eating disorders.
♦ Favorite TV show: The Office
♦ I'm obsessed with the psychology of criminal behavior and in another life might been in the FBI.
♦ I loves a good pun, board games, and 90s jams.
♦ Elephants are my favorite animal. They are intelligent, loyal, and compassionate!
♦ Favorite quote (a Jessica original that I have as a tattoo): Freedom is living between the black and white.
♦ I will wear a good pair of sweatpants, holes and all, until my husband confiscates them.
a few fun facts about me...
