Eating Disorders Beyond Food

Trauma, Autism, and What Behaviors May Be Communicating Eating disorders are often reduced to food and weight, but the behaviors themselves can communicate much deeper struggles related to trauma, control, sensory needs, dissociation, and survival. For many individuals, especially those with histories of abuse or neurodivergence, eating disorder behaviors may serve important protective functions. This training explores eating disorders through a trauma-informed and neurodivergent-affirming lens, examining the complex overlap between eating disorders, autism, dissociation, and childhood abuse, including Munchausen by Proxy Abuse. Participants will learn to better understand restrictive behaviors, bingeing, purging, compulsive movement, and food rituals as forms of communication rather than simply “symptoms.” The session will highlight how systems often misunderstand these behaviors and provide practical strategies for responding with greater compassion, curiosity, and effectiveness.