Lynne has 30 years of specialized experience helping individuals recover from eating disorders. She is deeply committed to compassionate, evidence-based care that supports lasting recovery. Lynne’s professional focus on eating disorders began at the University of Iowa, where she worked with families of adolescents with eating disorders and engaged in research throughout her undergraduate and graduate training. This work culminated in her graduate thesis examining cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of bulimia, laying the foundation for her lifelong dedication to this field.
Throughout her career, Lynne has worked across all levels of eating disorder care, including the University of Iowa Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, where she worked with children and parents utilizing Family Based Treatment (FBT) and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT); the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she served as a senior behavioral health clinician in both the children’s inpatient unit and the partial hospitalization program; and Mercy Hospital in Des Moines where she worked as a primary therapist in both the inpatient hospital and the outpatient eating disorder clinic.

For the past 23 years, Lynne has maintained a private practice, providing therapy to clients throughout the state of Iowa. She believes recovery is strongest when care is collaborative and works closely with physicians, dietitians, and psychiatrists to ensure comprehensive, coordinated treatment. Lynne is especially known for her work with parents of children and young adolescents, holding an unwavering belief that parents are key to helping their child recover from an eating disorder. She uses evidence-based approaches from Family Based Treatment (FBT) and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) when working with ARFID, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia.

Lynne also provides individual therapy with adolescents, college students, and adults. Her approach is values-based and individualized, integrating evidence-based modalities, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT), to help clients move toward meaningful, sustainable recovery. 

What to expect using family-based treatment (FBT)

FBT is the gold standard for treating children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa. The eating disorder has interfered with normal adolescent development and FBT involves three phases of treatment to get the adolescent back on track. In Phase 1, Lynne coaches parents in the process of refeeding their adolescent by putting parents  temporarily in charge of the child's eating. In Phase 2, the adolescent is helped to eat on her own and regains control of her own eating. Phase 3 involves exploring any adolescent issues that need attention due to the interruption of the eating disorder and to plan for continued recovery, such as ongoing support when the adolescent attends college.

What to expect at your first FBT appointment:
A thorough eating disorder assessment is conducted. Both parents and their adolescent are introduced to FBT, a family-based approach to treating adolescent eating disorders. Because an eating disorder is both a psychological disorder and a medical condition, you will work closely with a team comprised of your therapist, your doctor, and your parents.

Click the following links for more info:

Articles
AED Eating Disorders: A Guide to Medical Care

A F.E.A.S.T. Family Guide to the Neurobiology of Eating Disorders
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New Insights into Eating Disorders: Neurobiology behind Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
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Websites
https://www.aedweb.org/home
https://www.feast-ed.org/

Videos
Medical Complications of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
​with Philip Mehler, MD, CEDS, FACP, FAED, President of Eating Recovery Center

Brain Imaging and Eating Disorders

Parents to Parents: Explaining Family Based Treatment and its Evidence

One Family's Struggle with Anorexia

Family-Based Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa in Young Adults

Help your child eat with trust, not logic: the bungee jump

Family-Based Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa

 The Role of Siblings in Family-Based Treatment
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