New Registered Dietitian at Omni!
We are thrilled to announce a new member to the Omni Counseling and Nutrition Team, Melissa Knudson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)! Melissa comes to us with over 25 years of experience in the field of eating disorders, chronic dieting, and family based treatment and education of eating disorders. She recently moved to Denver from Michigan in order to be closer to her family. Melissa brings with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we are so excited to bring her on board and have her work in our Denver office with clients needing help with nutrition for eating disorders, disordered eating, chronic dieting, and parents who need help navigating their child’s relationship to food and their body.
Melissa’s words:
It is with incredible gratitude and great enthusiasm that I recently landed in Denver and found myself amid so many wonderful resources for helping people to work towards permanent recovery from eating disorders. I am a Michigan girl at heart who followed her family West, and I am learning that the mountains can be as beautiful and soothing as the wonderful waters that are so much a part of my life in Michigan. It has always been in nature that I have found the energy, direction, and motivation to seek ways to be useful in my work as well as my personal life.
Years ago I chose to major in nutrition and dietetics because of my love of science and the link to health and wellness. I entered into private practice early in my career, and quickly learned that I had A LOT to learn about eating disorders if I was going to ask clients to trust me with their innermost thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around food. I pursued advanced level training (at that time there were no graduate level courses in eating disorders!) with a local and very well known expert in the field, Dr. Amy Baker Dennis (one of the founders of the Academy for Eating Disorders). In addition to having her supervise my early work in the field, I took two 40 hour training courses: “Diagnosis, Assessment and Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Multidisciplinary Approach” and “Treatment of Comorbid and Chronically Eating Disordered Patients”.
I knew after this education that I was “hooked” on the field, in part due to the severe need for understanding of the role of nutrition in cause as well as recovery, and also for the wonderful opportunity to work with clients on their whole person nourishment as well as to work with their families and significant people that shared in the struggle and devastation that eating disorders had brought into their lives.
Things that I believe passionately:
*Full recovery is possible and worth the effort. (Half measures don’t bring freedom from ED).
*Freedom from internal obsession, rumination, and worry about weight, shape and appearance is something everyone deserves and is worthy of.
*Focus on beliefs and behaviors rather than body weight is the path to the aforementioned freedom as well as to optimal health.
*In a healthy relationship between self and food, there is no place for fear, judgment or guilt. That would include no calorie counting, food weighing, or lengthy list of forbidden foods!
People that I love working with include:
*People that have been chronic dieting who desperately want to give up old and unhelpful behaviors and learn to give themselves permission to eat adequately and with joy.
*Parents (Families) who want to raise children with positive and healthy relationships with food and weight.
*Individuals who desire recovery from their eating disorder, making a lasting transformation in their lives.
I have experience working with colleagues from other disciplines to offer a team approach to adolescents, adults, and families. I believe that you, the person reading this and considering entering into nutrition counseling with me, are the most important person on the team.
Please contact us here if you’d like to learn more about working Melissa!
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