Introducing Eating Disorder Recovery Coach Cassie Cloutier
We’re excited to tell you about a resource for clients pursuing eating disorder recovery:
Cassie Cloutier is an Eating Disorder Recovery Coach who works alongside a client’s treatment team to support them through the daily challenges and tasks of recovery. Through virtual coaching sessions and in-the-moment text support, she offers guidance, tools, structure, accountability, and motivation.
Cassie has been working behind the scenes doing community outreach and social media for for us, and she’s also pursuing her Master’s degree in clinical social work at Fairfield University.
Keep reading to learn more about Cassie and her work:
Tell us a little about your journey to becoming a recovery coach.
It started with my own recovery! While higher levels of care can be extremely helpful for many people, the options I had at the time didn’t work for me. I knew I needed daily support if I was going to be able to work with an outpatient team and stick to my recovery plan, so I decided to bring on an eating disorder recovery coach. Being able to text someone who had both shared experience and actionable tools to help me challenge the eating disorder made such a difference in my recovery.
Later, I earned my recovery coach certification through Outshining ED and trained as a peer mentor with ANAD, where I also facilitate peer support groups. I’m passionate about understanding how different identities and lived experiences impact people’s recovery, so I’ve continued my training on inclusive approaches to treatment through the therapy practice Ample + Rooted.
Why is being an anti-diet/weight inclusive coach important to you?
Diet culture reinforces eating disorder thoughts and behaviors, and I personally found questioning it to be really motivating in recovery. Recovery can feel like arguing with your own brain, so it was helpful to remind myself that I was also fighting a system that had taught me to be obedient and small. That shift made me feel connected to a larger purpose as well as my own values.
Also, we know that folks in larger bodies with eating disorders are more likely to be prescribed weight loss than appropriate treatment, and that needs to change. Creating equitable access to care is really important to me, so working from these perspectives feels non-negotiable.
Who is your ideal client?
I can get pretty fired up about the ways that diet culture is fueled by structures like white supremacy and patriarchy, so I definitely click with people who would find that motivating. But, I also know that eating disorders can be really consuming and isolating, and I love supporting people who are figuring out their passions and what the recovery version of life could look like. It’s an honor to witness people make these scary but exciting discoveries.
And if you’re an eldest daughter, straight-A-student type, or you’re also working on perfectionism, we’re going to get along (and I have so many worksheets to show you!).
What do you like to do for fun?
Crafting was such a healing part of my recovery! I still love knitting and crocheting elaborate projects for friends and family. Outside of that, I also love to read and see theatre in NYC!
Learn more and connect with Cassie through her website or schedule a free discovery call.
