The Role of A Dietitian In Eating Disorder Recovery
6/03/26 | By: Haley Havighurst
“Do I need a dietitian?” “What about a psychiatrist?” “I heard a psychiatrist can be really helpful.
These questions are common amongst those brave souls reaching out for help with their eating disorder. A common path in which someone with an eating disorder gets acquainted with a full team is by first, telling one provider (doctor, dietitian, therapist, psychiatrist, etc..) what’s going on. This provider should then recommend other members of the team. For example, someone may open up to their doctor that they have been restricting and that doctor then gives them referrals for a therapist and dietitian.
This is because the gold standard for eating disorder treatment is to have a healthcare team composed of a therapist, dietitian and physician. In this article, we are going to specifically zoom in on one of these providers roles -the dietitian.
Recalibrating Nutrition
Regardless of what type of eating disorder someone has,often their body likely doesn’t know up from down and left from right due to eating disorder behaviors. Part of the dietitian’s role is nutrition recalibration. This may include one or all of the following:
Increasing volume of food daily
Eating more frequently throughout the day
Variety expansion
Incorporating food challenges
Depending on the severity of an eating disorder, motivation level, outside support, this may range from dietitian prescribing a structured meal to setting small goals each week to build up one’s nutritional adequacy.
Navigating Obstacles that Interfere with Meeting Meal Plan
Having a meal plan is one thing, but executing it is a whole different ball game. This is where the dietitian really steps in to provide support.
Let’s go over a specific example of how a dietitian may help someone figure out a plan to meet their nutrition needs.
Case Example
Example 1: Gianna is a 20 year old college student who just started working with dietitians. The dietitian recommended that Gianna should be eating 3 meals and 3 snacks per day.
Gianna started a new semester at college this past week and is really overwhelmed with school let alone figuring out how she is going to go from sporadically eating on the go to eating 3 meals and 3 snacks regularly.
During her session with her dietitian this week, they sat down and wrote out her schedule, finding gaps where she can carve out time to grab groceries for on-the-go breakfast, plans for lunch (down to which dining hall is most convenient to stop at) and a potential schedule to follow for dinner like the one below:
Dinner schedule
Monday: 2 pieces of pizza and side salad with Emily at the dining hall next to the science building
Tuesday: microwave leftovers brought from home this past weekend
Wednesday: meal from the create-your-own bowl station at the dining hall in the dorm building
Thursday: grab sushi with Jenn at the new restaurant on Sixth Street
Friday: fast food on car ride to visit friend
Challenge Food Rules and Fear Foods
Like I mentioned above, part of a dietitian's role includes challenging food rules and fear foods.
Here is an example of what challenging a food rule or challenge food may look like:
Food Rule: no eating past 7pm
Goal: eat a snack at 7:15pm on Thursday night
Challenge food: brownies
Goal: eat one brownie at friend’s birthday party on Saturday
These goals might start off simple and then progress as someone advances in their recovery.
Help Clients Navigate Physical Symptoms
Gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas are common symptoms experienced throughout eating disorder recovery. One component of dietitian's role is to identify symptoms, provide psychoeducation on symptoms, and offer methods to alleviate or mitigate symptoms. For example, if someone is experiencing bloating, their dietitian may be able to make specific dietary recommendations to decrease bloating.
Final Thoughts: Being a Team Member
A dietitian is an integral part of the team, but so are the other providers as well. Part of the dietitian’s role as a team member include the following:
Make referrals out when needed
Give updates to the rest of the team
Discuss case with team members to better inform decisions related to client’s care
Provide information and support to client’s loved ones
Haley Havighurst, RD, LD, is a weight-inclusive, HAES-aligned eating disorder dietitian at Courage to Nourish. She specializes in helping clients heal their relationship with food and their body through an anti-diet approach. She has experience working at the PHP, IOP, and outpatient levels of eating disorder care and supports adolescents, college students, young adults, and adults navigating eating disorders, disordered eating, ARFID, and body image concerns. Haley is passionate about providing compassionate, collaborative care that challenges diet culture while helping clients build sustainable, trusting relationships with themselves. She practices from a weight-neutral perspective and believes everyone deserves access to eating disorder treatment and support, regardless of where they are in recovery.