Eating and Body Image Services
University of Michigan Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) and University Health Services (UHS) are pleased to offer multidisciplinary services for students seeking support for eating and body image issues.
Eating Issues Network
The Eating Issues Network (EIN) is a multidisciplinary treatment team consisting of mental health, medical, and nutrition providers who are dedicated to supporting students manage eating and body image issues. We collaborate and consult with one another in order to provide students with a holistic approach to care.
EIN members of UM CAPS are here to assist you with:
- Meeting with you to talk about your goals and explore and process current and past issues with eating and body image.
- Learn coping skills to manage urges to engage in disordered eating or excessive exercise behaviors.
- Dismantle any internalized body type ideals and work toward adopting body acceptance.
- Providing an affirming and body accepting space.
- Provide support in increasing social and familial support to decrease isolation.
- Providing resources to learn about eating and body image issues and recovery.
- Encouraging multidisciplinary care, including mental health, medical, and nutrition.
- Collaborating with students to complete the Eating Patterns Assessment (EPA), which is an eating and body image screening.
- Connecting to additional campus or community resources that may help in your recovery, including facilitating referrals to higher level of care and community providers.
Amanda Byrnes, LMSW Care Manager
Some team members are embedded, meaning they are located within a particular school/college and work with only students in those programs. You can directly contact an embedded counselor via email, located on their page.
What does CAPS offer?
- CAPS offers urgent and crisis same-day appointments; individual therapy; group therapy; and care management. Together with your counselor, an informed treatment decision is made based on your individual needs. These decisions take into account many factors, including but not limited to, each client’s needs, mental health history, multicultural factors, time of year, access to additional resources and support, etc.
What do these services look like?
- Urgent & Crisis Same-Day appointments
- Each day, CAPS has a Counselor on Duty to provide same day services for students who need immediate support. These appointments are available on a first come, first served basis. Some examples of when students might use our urgent same-day services include, but are not limited to, a recent sexual assault, current abusive relationship, increase in mental health symptoms related to any experiences of sexual or gender-based violence, etc.
- Individual therapy
- CAPS uses a brief, individual therapy model to meet the needs of all our students. We do not have a strict session limit, and each brief therapy experience looks a bit different based on each client’s needs. Your therapist will work collaboratively with you to come up with a plan at your first appointment.
- Group therapy
- CAPS has many groups centered around a specific clinical issue (i.e., perfectionism) or identity group (i.e., men’s graduate students).
- CAPS offers an Eating and Body Image Coping Skills Group for students of all genders who are currently recovering from an eating disorder or negative body image. Group provides a space for students to discuss their experiences of having eating or body image concerns on campus. Group members also have the opportunity to learn coping skills in support of their recovery.
- Care management
- Care management services are often helpful for students with insurance challenges and support in connecting to additional resources.
How do I make an appointment?
- You can schedule a first appointment (initial consultation) with any of these clinicians through our online scheduling system. If your school or college has an embedded counselor on our team, you can reach out to them directly via email to schedule.
- If you attend an initial consultation or COD appointment with someone who is not on EIN, but would like to meet with an EIN counselor moving forward, you can request this at your appointment.
What fees are associated with accessing CAPS services?
- CAPS services are free for students who are currently enrolled in classes. This includes graduate students under the Continuous Enrollment Policy.
Is this confidential?
- Yes. When it comes to protecting your information, CAPS follows all professional standards, and state and federal laws. For more specific information, review our Confidentiality Information.
What resources are available to share with family and/or friends supporting a loved one with eating and body image issues?
- Check out the National Eating Disorder Association’s How to Help a Loved One resource page.
What are other therapy resources in Ann Arbor?
- For help looking for community therapists who specialize in eating disorder and body image treatment, check out our Community Provider Database
