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Emilee Norgord (MSMHC)

Many people seek therapy during seasons when life feels heavy, confusing, or overwhelming.
You may feel stuck, exhausted, or unsure of how to move forward, even if you’ve been doing
your best to hold everything together. Choosing to start therapy can feel intimidating, but it’s also
a meaningful act of self-care and courage. This space is meant to be a pause from the noise, a
place to breathe, reflect, and feel supported as you work through what’s been weighing on you. You don’t have to have everything figured out to begin, showing up is enough.

I work from a humanistic, evidence-based approach and believe that every person can grow,
heal, and move forward, no matter what they’ve been through! My work is guided by the idea
that you are stronger than the challenges you face, even when it doesn’t feel that way. I aim to
create a welcoming and supportive space where clients feel safe being themselves and
exploring what’s been weighing on them. When working with me, you can expect a collaborative
experience focused on learning practical coping skills, improving relationships, and building
confidence. My hope is that you leave therapy feeling more grounded, empowered, and better
equipped to navigate life with clarity and self-compassion.

I help clients who are looking to:

  • Better understand and manage anxiety or overwhelming emotions.
  • Navigate life transitions, changes, or new expectations with confidence.
  • Make sense of big feelings during confusing or stressful stages of life.
  • Build healthier coping skills and emotional resilience.
  • Strengthen self-confidence and reduce self-criticism.
  • Explore identity, relationships, and personal values in a supportive environment.
  • Feel more capable and at ease with where they’re at right now.

In sessions, I may incorporate somatic awareness and mindfulness-based techniques to help
you connect more fully with their internal experiences, along with creative and expressive tools
such as journaling, art, and music to support self-exploration and emotional expression
appropriate to your individual needs and comfort level.

My goal is to support you by helping you notice the strengths you may have overlooked and the
possibilities that can feel out of reach when life is heavy. I will work to guide you as you build
confidence, develop tools that actually fit your lifestyle, and show up more fully for yourself and
the people you care about. My hope is that you leave therapy feeling steadier, more capable,
and better equipped to face what’s ahead with self-trust and intention.

Book an Appointment
Emilee Norgord

Eating Disorders - It's Not About the Food

By Kelly Lopez

If it’s not about the food, what is it really about?

The eating disorder serves a function, it does a job. Despite the problems an eating disorder creates, it is an effort to cope, shield against, communicate, and solve problems. Behaviors may be a way to establish a sense of power or control, self-worth, strength, and containment. Bringing may be used to numb pain. Purging may be a way to release emotions. When one cannot cope in healthy ways, adaptive functions (behaviors) are created to ensure a sense of safety, security, and control.
According to Carolyn Costin*, some of the “adaptive functions that eating disorder behaviors commonly serve are”:
  • Comfort, soothing, nurturance
  • Numbing, sedation, distraction
  • Attention, a cry for help
  • Discharge of tension, anger, rebellion
  • Predictability, structure, identity
  • Self-punishment or punishment of "the body"
  • Self-cleansing or self-purification
  • Protection or safety (through creation of a small or large body)
  • Avoidance of intimacy
  • Proof for self-blame instead of blaming others (for exampl, abusers)
It’s not about the food, it’s a way of coping with low self-esteem, negative emotions, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, unstable home, difficulty resolving conflict and much more.
*Costin, Carolyn. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Causes, Treatments and Prevention of Eating Disorders. 3rd. edition, McGraw Hill, 2007.
Fuller, Kristen. “Eating Disorders: It’s Not All about Food.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 Mar. 2017

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-is-state-mind/201703/eating-disorders-it-s-not-all-about-food