Meet Emma Leister (she/her)!
As a fat-positive, Health at Every Size (HAES) Dietitian, I’m passionate about empowering individuals to cultivate a joyful, low stress relationship with food and their bodies. I provide nutrition therapy to teens and adults who have diagnosed eating disorders, parents who are looking to raise kids without diet rules, people of all ages who want a better relationship to food and their bodies, and people who are looking for nutrition advice for health conditions without a side of weight stigma.
My journey to becoming an anti-diet advocate began during my own struggles with diet culture in my teenage years. Through the teachings of eating disorder dietitians and fat activists, I learned about HAES and fat liberation, prompting a profound shift in my perspective on health and nutrition. I have been working with eating disorder patients for over 5 years. Life is much better without food restrictions and constant body hatred. I have seen it for myself, and I have observed it in my patients who are currently in ED recovery. I am also a white, cisgender, straight-sized person who is currently able-bodied. My lived experience is shaped by the privileges that I hold.
My Approach
My counseling style is relational, collaborative and trauma-informed. I pull from the frameworks of Intuitive Eating, Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in Feeding, and Family-Based Treatment. I also understand that each of these frameworks has limitations, and I ultimately take an individualized approach to nutrition therapy.
Plenty of people who enter treatment have had stigmatizing experiences in healthcare where they do not feel heard or believed. It is my goal to make sure that your concerns are taken seriously and you are offered endless compassion and understanding through your work with me.
My understanding of eating disorders is rooted in social justice. I am Health at Every Size (HAES)-aligned and learn from the lived experiences of people in marginalized identities. I believe that in order to understand the complexity of eating disorders, providers must continuously unlearn racism, anti-fat bias, ableism, and transphobia that exists in our world.
In our work together, you are in the driver’s seat. I will not give you an “ultimatum” when you do not take my recommendations, I will not coerce you into residential treatment, and I will not be the “food police.” Instead, I am here to guide you in reclaiming your autonomy around food and your body. Once you tune out the noise of diet culture and anti-fat bias that surrounds you, you can relearn how to listen to your own body’s cues.
My Background
My educational background includes a Bachelor’s of Science in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University and a Masters in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I completed my Dietetic Internship through UW Health in Madison, WI. I have worked in a partial hospitalization eating disorder treatment center where I was first introduced to the concept of Health at Every Size (HAES). In my subsequent role in a nonprofit setting, I worked with a variety of people with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS.
I currently live in the Hudson Valley in New York with my partner and my rescue dog, Chip. I enjoy being in nature, visiting coffee shops, sampling Trader Joe’s seasonal items, watching Schitt’s Creek reruns, and reading memoirs. I am an enneagram 2w3 who loves to gather with people, and an introvert who also needs a good amount of alone time. I look forward to partnering with you on your journey toward a more positive relationship with food.
