After completing 75 consecutive days of treatment at Eating Disorder Solutions, if you experience a significant setback you can receive an additional 75 consecutive days of treatment at no cost.
Nikki's Eating Disorder Recovery Story
Nearly 80% of eating disorders go undetected. So it’s not surprising that despite seeing doctors and noticing changes to her eating habits, Nikki lived with an eating disorder for several years before realizing something was wrong and that she needed to seek help. The stress and anxiety Nikki suffered from caused her to misunderstand the severity of her condition for years before seeking help.
When she realized she was battling a serious illness, her therapist researched different eating disorder treatment centers and found Eating Disorder Solutions. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and with underlying issues that gradually crept into her daily life, she sought a place that accepted her as she was and where she felt safe.
After Nikki was discharged from Eating Disorder Solutions, she leaned back into her unhealthy coping mechanisms and disordered eating habits and decided to return to treatment. Relapse is never easy, and it’s not a part of everyone’s recovery story, but Nikki realized she needed to allow herself to be vulnerable and trust herself the second time around. We offered Nikki our 75 + 75 Treatment Guarantee and she never looked back.
Her interview highlights Eating Disorder Solutions’ healing and transformative environment and the incredibly compassionate team that made her feel safe, seen, heard, and, most importantly, aided in her recovery. Despite relapse having the potential to be disheartening, Nikki has learned to embrace where she is now, and our team is right beside her, rooting for her every step of the way.
“I’m actually enjoying life again. I feel that happiness, I feel that joy on a day to day basis. I don’t feel that heavy depression weighing me down anymore, and I feel like I can actually open up and talk to people about the things that I kept inside of me for most of my life. I’m finally where I want to be.”
Video Testimonial Summary
Key Takeaways from Nikki’s Story
•Eating Disorders Can Go Unrecognized for Decades: Nikki had disordered eating from her teens into her 30s without fully recognizing its severity. Her story highlights how normalized disordered behaviors can become and how difficult it can be to identify the need for help from the inside.
•EDS’s Natural Environment Is Therapeutically Significant: For patients who connect with nature, EDS’s ranch setting — with its trails, animals, fire pit, treehouse, and outdoor spaces — is not just aesthetically pleasant. It is a core part of the healing experience.
•EDS Is Explicitly LGBTQ+ Inclusive: EDS’s commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion is visible from the first visit to the website and reinforced throughout the treatment experience — from pronoun practices to the freedom to express identity openly.
•Relapse Is Not the End of Recovery: Nikki relapsed after her first round of treatment and returned to EDS. She was welcomed back without judgment. Her second stay produced the breakthrough she had been seeking. EDS treats relapse as a clinical event, not a moral failure.
•Joy Is a Measurable Outcome: Nikki’s goal was not just to stop the behaviors — it was to get her joy back. She achieved it. EDS’s treatment model is oriented toward genuine quality of life, not just symptom reduction.
Video Testimonial Transcript
Two Decades Before Asking for Help
I have had disordered eating for a long time — since my teens. But I didn’t decide to get help until last year. And I am in my 30s now. So it’s been a really long time.
I guess I didn’t realize how severe it was. I didn’t know that I needed the help. I think the reason that I decided to get help was because there was a lot of concern coming from my family and friends. And I don’t think that alone would have been enough to make me get help. There was a big push from my therapist. And I think that once I realized that I didn’t have any of that joy in my life anymore — and the drive to do what I used to enjoy — I just knew that I needed to get help.
How She Found EDS
She went online and started looking for some different places. She researched them first and really kind of nudged me in this direction. She said, “You know, there are a few different places, a few different options that I think you’d enjoy. You look at them and you let me know.”
I went through the list and I landed on this one. I thought it looked amazing. I thought it sounded amazing. And it sounded like the right fit for me. So I sent her my choice and she said, “That’s exactly the one I was thinking of for you.”
Healing in Nature: The EDS Ranch Environment
Of course, the environment is beautiful here. And I’m someone that really connects with nature — it’s really important to me. I felt that that would be a good place to heal.
We do a lot of things outdoors. During our breaks, we’ll come out and sit in the rocking chairs and just kind of talk to each other. There is a fire pit, so sometimes we’ll have a fire, do s’mores, that sort of thing. There’s a trail as well — sometimes we’ll go for walks out on the trail. We go for walks down to get the mail or to see the goats. There’s a treehouse. We’ll go to the treehouse as well. And there’s a nice-sized yard out here, so sometimes people just want to come out by themselves and just kind of walk around and enjoy it.
The birds are absolutely gorgeous. I will sit out here in the morning and just listen to them. It’s just absolutely amazing out here. There are rocking chairs out front — you can sit out front and there’s a field of cows and horses. It’s just incredible, the amount of nature that you can appreciate. It’s really healing, you know, to be out here and have all this at your disposal to help you.
LGBTQ+ Inclusive Care
Something that was also important to me was the fact that it was inclusive and open to everybody. I am bisexual. And there were several places that I was looking at — I think I maybe saw one other place that mentioned something like that on their website. It didn’t seem like something that anybody focused on or felt was important to mention.
Whereas when I looked at EDS, it was something that they felt was really important. They made sure it was mentioned and front and center for the people considering coming here. When you’re in a place where you’re trying to heal, you want to know that the environment is going to accept you the way that you are. Because a lot of times, you’ve grown up in an environment that doesn’t accept you for who you are. And the last thing you want to do is try to heal from all of the trauma and all of the hurt in another environment like that.
One of the first things I noticed was that they do ask what sort of pronouns someone uses when they get here. They’re very careful to use those pronouns as well. And they make sure that when you get to the facility, you can introduce yourself, introduce your pronouns, and that the other clients are aware and respectful of those as well.
As you can see, I like to dress in bright rainbows. And you can express yourself how you like to be — it’s respected here. I think that’s extremely important. I love that everybody here can be themselves.
Coping Skills: The Rainbow Technique and More
I will say it’s going to be different for everybody. But a few things that work for me:
There’s something that I call “Rainbow.” It is literally just me going through the rainbow itself in order — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — and I find something in each color. All it is is a distraction. I might have a problem that’s causing me a lot of anxiety. And if I can divert my attention to finding something in each color of the rainbow, I’m no longer fixated on that problem. I just repeat the process as many times as I need to until I’ve calmed myself down enough and I’m breathing properly again. Then if I need to, I can go back to that problem and look at it with a fresh perspective. That one works really well for me.
Another one — and this one was actually really hard for me to utilize at all, and it seems so simple — is reaching out to somebody. Just texting or calling someone. That simple. I wouldn’t do it for the life of me. But now that I have done it a few times, I find it so much easier.
Journaling. Going outside — that’s huge for me. I love being outdoors. Being around my animals. I love that. And then there is deep breathing and the 5-4-3-2-1 — which everybody does in a different order. Five things you see, four things you smell, three things you can touch. It’s all different for everybody. But those are my go-to’s.
The Reality of Recovery: It Takes Real Work
I thought, you know, maybe I could come in here and maybe not all my problems would disappear, but they’d be on some level fixed. And I could go home and be okay and be happy. But it’s not that simple. It’s never really that simple.
I will say that the clinical staff does a great job of laying out the expectation that there is always a possibility of relapse. They don’t want you to come in and think that you’re going to be cured and go home and never struggle again. They lay that out from day one.
But I think I realized — and it took me a while — that I had to work through a lot of the things that I just kept buried for so long in order to achieve the happiness that I wanted to get back to. It wasn’t just coming in, going to groups, doing everything on the schedule. I had to really, really dig deep and work for it. I knew what I needed to do. It was just a matter of me being able and willing to do it. I knew that I needed to be vulnerable. It’s just that I wasn’t at the point where I was ready to be vulnerable.
Relapse: The Emotions of Coming Back
I think there was some relief at first — because I thought, “This is all that I’m meant to have.” I was still really depressed and really angry at a lot of people. And I thought that was all I was meant to have. So I felt the relief of being able to go back to those behaviors.
I felt some shame, because I had gone through the program and the treatment and was doing IOP. I felt a little confusion, because I thought, “I did all of these things. I’ve seen other people do these things and it worked for them. Why didn’t it work for me?” And I felt panic, because I had gotten a little bit of that want to have my life back again — but I didn’t know how to get it all the way back yet.
I think that’s what made me, when my treatment team at the IOP center told me I needed to go into a higher level of care — I think that’s why I jumped on it so quickly. Because I still felt kind of lost at that point.
Returning to EDS: No Judgment, Just Welcome
Everybody was very welcoming. They said, “We’re sorry that you’re back because of the reason you’re back, but we’re very happy to see you.”
I felt a bit of shame and guilt coming back. But coming back to the environment and the people that I did made it that much easier. What really did it for me was just the way that I was welcomed back — there was no judgment on their part. And the shift in my attitude. It was that desire to have joy again. The drive behind it. “I’m gonna get it this time.” I just wanted to be happy.
I was so lost last time. I knew I couldn’t keep going. I knew I was making myself so sick. But I didn’t know how to get what I wanted. And I didn’t even really know what I wanted. I just knew I was lost and angry.
The Staff: The Heart of EDS
I don’t have enough good words for the staff. I’m trying not to tear up, because they are a huge part of what has made my recovery so special. Both times that I’ve been here — if it weren’t for them pushing me and walking with me, sitting with me when I struggled, reminding me of who I am and my worth and what I was doing it for and who I was doing it for — I don’t think I could have done it.
If you come here for no other reason, come here for the staff. Obviously come here for your recovery. But the staff is amazing. You can’t get better staff anywhere.
Finding Joy Again
I don’t know if I can describe how I feel. I think I finally am on the path that I want to be on. I won’t say that I’ve achieved happiness, because I think happiness is a journey — it’s not really a destination. But I’m actually enjoying life again. I feel that happiness. I feel that joy on a day-to-day basis. I don’t feel that heavy depression weighing me down anymore. And I feel like I can actually open up and talk to people about the things that I kept inside of me for most of my life.
I think I’m where I want to be.
A Message to Anyone Still Struggling
To somebody out there — you mean everything. You mean everything to them. And they’re seeing you struggle and they’re worried about you. And if all you do is pick up the phone and call somebody, or if all you do is send that email — it will make all the difference in the world in your life.
You can get your life back. Just make that first step. Just do it. I promise you it’s worth it.
Anorexia Nervosa Treatment
Our anorexia nervosa treatment focuses on restoring healthy eating habits and addressing underlying psychological issues. Individual therapy, nutritional counseling, and medical monitoring are integrated to support clients in achieving a balanced relationship with food and body image.
Bulimia Nervosa Treatment
Bulimia treatment aims to break the binge-purge cycle by addressing the emotional triggers and behaviors associated with bulimia. Therapy and nutritional support help clients develop healthier coping mechanisms and improve their relationship with food.
Binge Eating Disorder Treatment
Our binge eating disorder treatment program focuses on managing the emotional factors that lead to overeating. Clients receive therapy and nutritional guidance to develop healthier eating habits and gain control over their eating behaviors.
Body Dysmorphia Treatment
Body dysmorphia treatment helps clients challenge distorted perceptions of their body image. Through specialized therapy, clients learn to develop a more realistic and positive view of their appearance, reducing obsession and anxiety.
ARFID Treatment
Treatment for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) focuses on expanding dietary variety and reducing food avoidance behaviors. Our program uses therapeutic interventions tailored to the individual’s needs to promote nutritional health.
OSFED Treatment
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED) are treated with customized care plans that address their unique symptoms. Our program provides therapy and support to help clients develop a healthy relationship with food.
UFED Treatment
For Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorders (UFED), we offer personalized therapy that meets each client’s specific needs, promoting recovery and overall well-being.
Orthorexia Treatment
Orthorexia treatment focuses on reducing the obsession with “perfect” eating. Our approach helps clients develop a balanced relationship with food, emphasizing health without rigid dietary rules.
Compulsive Overeating Treatment
Our treatment for compulsive overeating targets the emotional triggers that lead to overeating. Clients learn to manage these triggers through therapy and nutritional counseling and adopt healthier eating patterns.
Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment
We provide integrated care for clients with eating disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions. This comprehensive approach ensures that all aspects of a client’s well-being are addressed, supporting recovery and overall mental health.
We’re Here to Help
Eating Disorder Solutions offers personalized residential and outpatient eating disorder treatment in the Dallas, TX area. We provide treatment with integrity, promoting holistic approaches that heal the mind, body, and soul. If you’re ready to begin your recovery journey, call us now at 855-245-0961 or complete the form.
What Sets Us Apart
- Personalized Treatment
- Licensed Specialists
- Same-Day Intake
- Flexible Scheduling
- Evidence-Based Therapies
- Long-Term Recovery
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Residential Center
Outpatient Center
Adults of All Ages
We treat adults across all life stages, from young professionals to those in midlife or retirement. Some have battled OSFED since adolescence, while others develop symptoms later in life due to stress, health changes, or personal loss.
College Students
College life can increase OSFED risk, with pressures from academics, social comparison, and irregular eating patterns. We help students develop balanced routines, manage campus triggers, and build coping strategies for dining halls, parties, and late-night study sessions.
LGBTQ+ Individuals
We provide affirming, culturally sensitive care for LGBTQ+ clients, recognizing the unique impact of stigma, body image pressures, or gender dysphoria. Our team creates a safe space where clients can explore identity issues and learn healthier ways to cope without relying on disordered eating.
Athletes
Athletes may develop OSFED due to weight pressures, performance demands, or rigid training routines. Our sports-informed team helps clients balance proper nutrition with athletic goals while addressing perfectionism and identity tied to sport.
Working Professionals
High-pressure careers can fuel disordered eating patterns like skipping meals, nighttime overeating, or extreme dieting. We offer flexible in-person and virtual OSFED treatment options to fit around busy work schedules and professional demands.
Most Insurances Accepted
Real People, Real Results
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an eating disorder go unrecognized for 20 years?
Yes. Nikki had disordered eating from her teens into her 30s without fully recognizing its severity. This is more common than many people realize — especially when the behaviors are gradual, secretive, or normalized over time. EDS conducts thorough clinical assessments to identify the full scope of a patient’s eating disorder, regardless of how long it has been present or how severe it appears on the surface.
What role does a therapist play in helping someone decide to seek eating disorder treatment?
An outside therapist is often the first clinical voice to name the severity of an eating disorder and recommend a higher level of care. Nikki’s therapist researched facilities, presented options, and gently guided her toward EDS. If you are currently working with a therapist and they are recommending residential or intensive treatment, that recommendation deserves serious consideration. EDS works collaboratively with outside providers throughout the admissions and treatment process.
Does EDS's outdoor ranch environment play a role in treatment?
Yes. EDS’s ranch setting in Weatherford, Texas is a deliberate and therapeutic part of the treatment environment. Patients have access to walking trails, a fire pit, a treehouse, rocking chairs, and the natural surroundings of a working ranch — including cows, horses, and goats. For patients who connect with nature, this environment provides a grounding, calming, and restorative backdrop that supports the clinical work happening inside.
Is EDS LGBTQ+ inclusive?
Yes. EDS is explicitly and actively LGBTQ+ inclusive. The facility asks about pronouns from the first day of admission, ensures that all clients are introduced with their preferred pronouns, and creates an environment where patients can express their identity freely. Nikki, who is bisexual, describes EDS as one of the only facilities she researched that made LGBTQ+ inclusion a visible, front-and-center commitment — not an afterthought.
Can I express my gender identity and personal style freely during treatment at EDS?
Yes. EDS encourages patients to be themselves. Nikki describes dressing in bright rainbows and being fully accepted for her self-expression throughout her stay. In a treatment environment that requires vulnerability and openness, the freedom to present authentically is not a minor detail — it is foundational to the healing process.
What is the "Rainbow" grounding technique?
The Rainbow technique is a distraction-based grounding method in which a person identifies something in each color of the rainbow — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — in their immediate environment. By redirecting attention to a structured visual task, the technique interrupts the anxiety loop and creates enough cognitive distance to return to a problem with a calmer, clearer perspective. Nikki invented this variation herself and uses it as her primary grounding tool. EDS teaches a wide range of grounding techniques and encourages patients to adapt them to their own needs.
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique?
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a sensory grounding exercise used to interrupt anxiety, panic, or dissociation by anchoring attention to the present moment through the five senses. In a common version, a person identifies five things they can see, four they can hear, three they can touch, two they can smell, and one they can taste. The exact order and sensory categories can be adapted to individual preference. EDS teaches this technique as part of its coping skills curriculum.