Dr. Liz Esalen is the Founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Collaborative, Health and Recovery Centers. TLC provides holistic eating disorder treatment in Santa Cruz and San Francisco, CA along with supportive living in Santa Cruz called The Mermaid House. TLC offers a unique well-balanced holistic approach to healing. Their quality eating disorder recovery programs embody compassion, inspir
ation, and empowerment. They have heart-felt expert staff and beautiful, home-like retreat centers. Our choices to go the extra mile convey our deep respect for clients and the healing journeys they are embarking upon. Dr. Liz believes in hiring recovered staff and she herself, has fully recovered from an eating disorder. The Lotus Collaborative understands the unique and various steps to full recovery. Dr. Esalen believes that eating disorders are divine messengers, asking us to pay attention to the wisdom our bodies and souls are attempting to communicate with us. We must pay keen attention to our minds and cultural messages, for they influence our beliefs about who we are and what is possible. Although the recovery journey can be difficult and frustrating, it is our opportunity to learn, evolve, and choose a connected, thriving life. By choosing the recovery journey, we allow the opportunity to blossom into the vibrant beings we were meant to be. Dr. Esalen believes that treatment should provide connection with oneself, others and a recovery community. She believes we must align our hearts, bodies, minds and souls, and experience mastery opportunities including the chance to mentor others earlier in recovery. TLC provides treatment that is "just right," balanced between evidence-based skill approaches, with deep, interpersonal, psychospiritual process work. True healing cannot come exclusively from quantitative, impersonal, outcome-focused, "expert" and "sick patient" practices. And conquering an eating disorder cannot come from solely kind, well-intentioned listener-therapists. The Lotus Collaborative believes recovery is best achieved by providing solid education, teaching loving awareness of oneself and others, skills training, and strategies to substitute eating disorder behaviors with what one truly needs. Dr. Esalen believes treatment centers should be owned and directed by clinically trained leaders, that can balance both business needs with the best interest of the client and staff. She believes that treatment programs cannot be true healing centers if a company does not nurture and respect their staff members. She began The Lotus Collaborative in Santa Cruz, CA to honor both the professionals and the clients that give their heart and souls to this powerful healing journey. After two thriving years, Dr. Esalen opened The Mermaid House in beautiful Santa Cruz, a supportive transitional living environment for women working on eating disorder recovery. The great interest in The Lotus Collaborative's holistic approach to healing eating disorders created the opportunity to open another treatment center in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Esalen has been in the healing profession for over 20 years and has dedicated her career to excellent eating disorder care. Her specialties include Eating Disorders, Behavioral Medicine, Health & Sports Psychology, Women's Issues, Identity issues, Mindfulness, Domestic Violence and Trauma. She has extensive eating disorder clinical leadership and program development experience. She has been Program, Clinical and Executive Directors of partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, group outpatient, supportive living, and private practice levels of care. and a Licensed California Psychologist (PSY24204). Her personal and professional mission is to inspire people to achieve a thriving life filled with peace, love, support, community, advocacy, strength, vibrancy, freedom, and zest. "Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit." cummings
You can find more information about The Lotus Collaborative at www.thelotuscollaborative.com. You can email her at: [email protected]