BeyondWell KC

07/07/2025

What does it mean to be "recovered?" That's a tough question to answer! One of BeyondWell KC's owners weighs in with what the research says (and doesn't tell us), what one authority on the matter says, and with her own explanation as someone in recovery from an eating disorder.

Click to read more!

This question comes up from time to time throughout the course of many individuals' treatment. It's a question that does not have a firm answer and that you'd likely get 100 different answers to if you polled a mix of 100 clinicians treating the illness and people who have experienced an eating diso...

06/03/2025

Meet Heather Burton!

She's one of our therapists here at BeyondWell KC and as expert as they come in treating eating disorders & complicated co-occurring mental health conditions. She's passionate, direct but gentle, and skilled in developing trusting relationships with her clients. She enjoys working with athletes, young adults, and women in their perinatal years. A Missouri native, she lived in for many, meany years and now lives just outside Orlando, Florida with her husband and 2 German Shepherds.

If you or someone you know is searching for a skilled therapist, look no further! Learn more about her by navigating to her About page on our website (via that little 🔗 in our bio) and contact us to get connected with her.

05/19/2025

As summer approaches, despite the societal (and internalized) pressure, show up just as you are. No apologies.

👙 Wear the swimsuit. Ditch the cover-up and the self-deprecating commentary.

🍔 Eat the cheeseburger. Have the flippin' bun without commenting on or justifying the choice and without the guilt.

📸 Be in the pictures. Stand in front and position yourself however feels natural without adjusting to capture a flattering angle or requesting a re-do.

Consider the time lost, the bandwidth wasted, and what you're missing out on when you're apologizing, hiding, echoing the tune of your inner critic, drowning in shame, and worrying about carefully constructing the image you feel pressured to present to the world.

Be YOU. You are amazing -- the authentic, unfiltered, no-apologies version of you.

05/06/2025

At BeyondWell KC we have providers offering in-person as well as virtual care through easy-to-use HIPAA compliant platforms so we can meet our clients, literally and figuratively, where they are. Although some are still hesitant and it’s certainly not for everyone or appropriate in every case, virtual treatment has been a game-changer for many clinicians and individuals struggling with eating disorders.

Check out our latest blog reviewing the benefits of virtual treatment.

Ask us about our in-person and virtual treatment options to see which is the best fit for you!

📞 913.284.0882
📨 hello@beyondwellkc.com

At BeyondWell KC we have providers offering in-person as well as virtual care through easy-to-use HIPAA compliant platforms so we can meet our clients, literally and figuratively, where they are. There were clinicians were treating clients virtually for years before it became a lot more common in th...

05/01/2025

We're excited to announce we've added another dietitian, Sarah Thompson, to our team!

She brings with her a particular passion for supporting clients navigating disordered eating/eating disorders (especially ARFID & binge eating disorder) who also live with chronic illnesses/conditions such as arthritis, PCOS, diabetes, POTS, EDS, Hashimoto's, and other autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

Read more about her here!

https://www.beyondwellkc.com/about/sarah-thompson

09/17/2024

Are you a person who does everything for others and puts yourself lowest on the totem pole? 🙋‍♀️

So many of us struggle with this, and ESPECIALLY those in helping professions who sometimes have a hard time taking our own advice. Despite knowing how important self-care is, for many of us, our needs always seem to be last in line to be tended to. Sometimes conversations we have with our clients (and ourselves!) center around processing their WORTHINESS of the effort self-care requires, sometimes conversations center around navigating discussions with significant others to help carve out this important time without all Hell breaking loose at home or leading to guilt (this is a BIG one!), and often conversations center around our clients identifying their needs, defining what meeting these needs and what self-care actually looks like for them, and in many cases SIMPLIFYING how they meet their needs and give themselves TLC.

Today, I had a gap between clients and decided to step out of my office and work at a table in our building's beautiful courtyard. For 30 minutes I answered emails while listening to birds chirp, leaves rustle, and cars whiz by and enjoying the breeze and the warmth of the sun. I was still working, but this simple location change felt energizing in a way that I would not have experienced were I still sitting at my desk. I didn't even mean for it to be, but I noticed for me this felt like self-care.

Despite what we know, the word 'self-care' still tends to evoke images of getting a 90-minute massage on the beach at an all-inclusive resort. In reality, self-care doesn't need to be this complicated or elaborate. Self-care can be simple. It can be quick. It can be a moment here and there.

Comment below: What is a form of self-care for you that might not SEEM like self-care?

09/12/2024

News flash! 📰

Just as the temperature drops, the leaves change, and the days get shorter each year, we can expect that our bodies are going to go through seasonal changes and continuous transformation throughout our lifespan. The obsession with keeping our bodies from changing -- from gaining weight to aging -- leads so many down the never-ending rabbit hole of unsustainable diets, online fitness programs that guarantee quick results, unnecessary supplements, and costly anti-aging treatments.

These are not only fruitless pursuits, but also they instill fear in younger generations who see their trusted grown-ups spending their precious time, energy, and hard-earned money on trying to remain exactly the same rather than embracing how our bodies naturally grow and change overtime.

Try something radical. Try embracing rather than fearing your body's beautiful metamorphosis. Try offering your body compassion rather than criticism at any size, any weight, and any age.

If this speaks to you, reach out. Let our specialized clinicians help you navigate all the changes our bodies go through while existing in a culture that propagates and profits from insecurities.

09/04/2024

Asking yourself these questions will help you better navigate and eventually avoid the bingeing trap.

AM I HUNGRY?
Recalibrating our eating patterns (eating more often and ensuring that our eating is balanced and satiating) is usually step #1 to interrupt bingeing because allowing ourselves to become ravenously hungry sets us up to eat quickly and to usually overeat. When combined with unmet emotional needs, this can be a perfect storm that leads to a binge.

HOW AM I FEELING?
Most of us walk around so disconnected that we don't stop to notice what we're feeling. Our bodies communicate with us by sending us signals that are like little clues that point us toward what we need. Being in tune with what we're feeling can help lead us to what we need physically (food, sleep, calm, a trip to the ER, etc.) and emotionally (connection, security, to de-stress, etc.).

WHAT DO I NEED?
When we can pause long enough to tune into and identify our emotional needs, when we know how to meet those emotional needs, and when we're in a position to meet those emotional needs, we can begin to drift away from coping through food behaviors. This takes time and practice!

Remember that you may not know the answers to any of these questions, and you may not have any stinkin' clue what you need. That's okay! In these cases, the most important thing you can do is offer your self lots and LOTS of compassion.

Struggling with emotional eating or bingeing? There's hope! Our BeyondWell KC clinicians have 70+ years of combined experience helping those who struggle with these issues. Reach out to us via our website, phone, or email.

08/29/2024

Parenting a child with an eating disorder and supporting them through recovery is a steep learning curve and can feel like learning a new language. It's hard! Check out our latest blog to learn one of our specialized dietitian's go-to advice for parents of a child with an eating disorder.

👉Click here: https://tinyurl.com/5xehpp4z

08/13/2024

We're excited to introduce the newest member of the BeyondWell KC team!

Emily Fravel is an anti-diet dietitian with experience at higher levels of care and a passion for utilizing exposure methods and CBT techniques to adjust clients' judgments and assumptions about nutrition, movement, and health as she guides them toward a more trusting relationship with their bodies and with food.

She enjoys working with adolescents and young women as they face the challenges of entering adulthood. She has a playful, lighthearted yet direct approach to treating clients. She makes her clients laugh AND nudges them along the path toward recovery if they need a swift kick in the pants.

Read more about her here!
https://www.beyondwellkc.com/about/emily-fravel

05/07/2024

At BeyondWell KC, we are often talking about body neutrality rather than body positivity with our clients, but both have their place in eating disorder recovery, and sometimes one is more helpful than the other at certain points in the treatment process.

Body neutrality is a form of radical acceptance. It creates space to feel all sorts of ways about our bodies, to allow how we feel about our bodies to shift from day to day and throughout our lives, and to encourage us to care for our bodies regardless of how we feel about them or what the world around us has to say about them.

This approach to body image is inclusive. When used appropriately, body neutrality meets trans, non-binary, those with gender dysphoria, non-abled bodies, and those whose bodies do not feel safe or welcomed in our world for any reason where they are as well.

We recommend you try saying these body neutral statements to yourself. Remain curious about how doing this and how seeing your body through this lens impacts your self-perception and your view of they ways in which you show up for and care for your body each day.

04/16/2024

Meet Dr. Carrie Sheets! Carrie is a Licensed Health Psychologist, co-founder & co-owner of BeyondWell KC, an eating disorders expert, and mama to 2 rambunctious young boys.

She believes connection, including the therapeutic relationship, is a core component of the recovery process. Carrie cares deeply for her clients, and the relationships she forms with her clients are truly transformative.

As an eating disorder takes hold, an individual becomes more and more isolated & disconnected, not only from their true self but also from those around them. Research shows that a major factor which has been identified as being protective against the persistence of eating disorders is social support & connectedness. For many individuals, a therapist is first human being that they open up to about their illness. Hand-in-hand with our clients, we crack the door open wider, shedding more and more light on the disorder, and a powerful therapeutic connection forms. This partnership is a threat to the eating disorder and also a powerful ingredient in the recovery process. It's also often one of the first steps toward enhancing wider social support and connection that is so healing.

To learn more about Carrie, visit our website and reach out to us to find out if our team of expert clinicians is the right fit for you!