Eating Disorder Therapy for Dancers
The beauty and grace of dancing is what attracts many young people to the world of dance. Once in the community, kids, teens, and their parents quickly learn about the commitment and discipline involved in creating the aesthetic value of a performance. It is not simply a sport or hobby for serious dancers; it is an identity within a culture. Dancers feel like they have a duty to uphold their part in the beauty of the presentation, which often leads to struggles with body image and weight.
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For dancers with eating disorders and their parents, there is a unique pain in recognizing that the very thing they love so much maybe contributing to their illness. They face the fear of having to quit their passion in order to recover. We are here to say that you do not need to be afraid! At Recovered and Restored Eating Disorder Therapy Center, our specialized approach to treatment honors your life priorities so that you do not need to lose your identity in recovery. You can restore your health while continuing to pursue your passion for dance.
Why Dancers Face Unique Eating Disorder Challenges
As a form of living art, dance is designed to convey visual effects that invoke emotion. Every step must be perfect, every line fluid, and every costume properly fitted. As a result, there are many dance-specific risk factors that can lead to disordered eating behaviors and clinically-defined eating disorders.
Dancers spend their lives in front of a mirror, and they are constantly under scrutiny for the way they move - and yes - the way they look. The pressure to be perfect is palpable in the dance studio, among peer groups, and during costume measurements. Dancers are accustomed to having their bodies openly talked about, while also being directly told to maintain a specific muscle tone, size, or weight. Although many athletes face similar pressure to be in peak performance shape, most do not face the same expectation of having to look exactly a certain way. Dancers are within a small group of performers who face this high level of pressure.
When the comments mount, instructor criticisms begin to sound threatening, injuries cause training setbacks, or dancers feel like they need to do something to add a little more edge to their performance, disordered eating is a common response. For some dancers, eating disorders are about trying to maintain control over one thing in their lives. For others, they are more about trying to meet the expectations of everyone they feel responsible to. No matter the reason, the difficult reality is that an eating disorder will quickly take control over a dancer’s life, harming her health and her ability to perform at all.
Dancers are at risk for many different eating disorders and associated mental health challenges, including:
Disordered eating does not always meet the clinical definition of an eating disorder, but is still disruptive to proper health and functioning. Dancers do not need to have a specific disorder to seek treatment for their struggles with body image or weight.
​Specialized Eating Disorder Treatment That Understands Dance Culture
What many dancers fear the most about seeking treating for an eating disorder is that they will be told they must stop dancing. This one fear can trap dancers in a mindset that allows no hope for recovery. If this is your fear, whether you are a dancer or the parent of a dancer, please set it aside at this very moment!
At Recovered & Restored, our team of licensed therapists and coaches view treatment within the context of each client’s entire life experience. We understand that our clients are unique individuals with life priorities, commitments, and passion. We seek to restore dancers to their craft with a mindset that values health and honors their hardworking bodies. This means identifying the pressures, triggers, manipulations, and thought patterns that lead to disordered eating and separating them from what it means to be a dancer. A dancer’s love and passion can absolutely be centered in an overall sense of health and well-being.
Our therapy approaches are as unique as each dancer, offering fully individualized treatment plans. Treatment may include therapy for co-occurring disorders such as trauma, PTSD, OCD, anxiety, and depression. Our modalities include:
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
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Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
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Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
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Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
Beyond eating disorder therapy, we provide valuable nutrition counseling, meal coaching, group support, parent coaching, and family therapy to enhance effective healing and promote sustained recovery.
Recovered & Restored delivers online therapy for dancers who live in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont, South Carolina, and Florida. Our online format is confidential and ideal for working with a dancer’s demanding schedule. While in treatment and recovery, our therapists work with dancers to maintain appropriate nutrition and strong health for performance. With the support of a compassionate, qualified therapist, dancers often find that they are able to apply a more balanced focus on training and rehearsals. The result is that they feel healthier, enjoy a renewed love of dance, and even improve their technical skills!
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Warning Signs of Eating Disorders for Dance Parents
Dance parents may feel a sense of guilt or helplessness when they recognize that their daughter is showing signs of an eating disorder. Some parents may not see the symptoms in their own child, but they notice the mounting pressure and worry for their daughter’s future health.
These feelings, worries, and concerns are valid. Parents naturally want to support their child’s passion, but their first priority is always to ensure that their child can pursue it in the healthiest manner. A parent’s first line of defense is to create a supportive home environment where communication is open and comfortable. Dancers who know they have their parents’ full support and permission to talk about the hard days, troubling feelings, and pressure from peers or instructors are often able to navigate dance life without falling into disordered habits.
Although it is difficult, parents should always advocate for their daughters in the presence of overtly negative comments about weight and body type. When it cannot be addressed in the moment, talk about the experience afterward and provide reassurance that the dancer’s overall health and strength, rather than simply her weight, will lead to optimal performance.
Parents who already suspect that their dancer has an eating disorder should never panic or become hyper-focused on their daughter’s eating habits. Simply look for the warning signs from a place of curiosity and compassion. Warning signs and risk factors include:
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Avoiding family meal times, stating a preference to eat alone or on the go
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Strict dieting during injury recovery
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Adhering to a restrictive meal and food plan, avoiding entire food groups
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Constant weighing, measuring, or spending time in front of the mirror
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More time than required spent in the studio or at the gym to get in extra practice time
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Following dance influencer content that centers on aesthetics
Recovered & Restored is here for parents, and we encourage them to reach out to our team even if their daughter is only showing mild symptoms of disordered eating. We have tools that can prevent further development and can treat existing disorders. Our resources are for whole families in order to promote supportive approaches to nutrition, health, and body image.
Eating Disorder Recovery for Dancers
If you are a current dancer, former dancer, or parent of a dancer, eating disorders are a real and present risk in your world. Body size, shape, and weight are part of dance culture, and it is impossible to avoid the comments and pressure that dancers face to look a certain way.
You never have to face that pressure alone! Recovered & Restored understands the life of a dancer, and we tailor our eating disorder therapy for dancers to support your passion. We honor the effort and sacrifice that you pour into your craft, and we are here to help you protect your physical and mental health while you pursue what you love. Dancing does not have to lead to an eating disorder, and an eating disorder does not have to end your dance career.
Recovery is possible, no matter how many dance years you have ahead of you! And if your time on the stage is past, but you are still facing the residual issues of trying to maintain a certain size and shape, you can overcome all of those old thought patterns that are preventing you from restored health today.
With specialized treatment for your eating disorder, you can see that the only trade-off for being a healthy dancer is fear! Our therapists are here to support you in being the best performer you can be without losing your sense of self. You deserve to embrace your passion for dance just as much as you embrace your healthy, strong body. Contact us to learn more about compassionate, supportive therapy for dancers with an eating disorder. Recovered and Restored Eating Disorder Therapy Center delivers HIPAA-compliant online therapy for dancers and former dancers in Delaware, New Jersey, South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Vermont, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.