Is Virtual Eating Disorder Treatment Right for You? Insights from EDCare’s Virtual IOP Team



Recovery doesn’t always fit neatly into one setting. For some individuals, stepping away from work, school, family responsibilities, or community commitments to attend treatment in person may not be possible. Others may be transitioning from a higher level of care and looking for continued support as they return to everyday life.

EDCare’s Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (VIOP) is currently available to adults (ages 18 and older) residing in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. For some people, Virtual IOP is the most appropriate place to begin treatment. For others, it serves as a valuable step-down option after partial hospitalization (PHP), or in-person intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment, helping bridge the transition back to everyday life while maintaining meaningful clinical support.

Recovery doesn’t always require putting your entire life on hold. Depending on your clinical and medical needs, virtual treatment can provide the structure, accountability, and connection needed to support healing while allowing you to remain engaged in work, school, family responsibilities, and your community.

To help you better understand what virtual treatment looks like, we asked members of EDCare’s Virtual IOP team to share their perspectives on nutrition support, therapeutic connection, accountability, and what makes recovery in a virtual setting both effective and meaningful.

Finding Recovery That Fits Your Life

Q&A with Mackenzie Gabreski, LPC, Director of Virtual IOP

Virtual IOP can serve many different purposes in the recovery journey. For some individuals, it offers an accessible way to receive specialized eating disorder treatment while maintaining daily responsibilities. For others, it provides essential support when transitioning from a higher level of care back into everyday life. Mackenzie Gabreski shares her perspective on who can benefit from Virtual IOP and what individuals should know when considering this treatment option.

Virtual IOP supports continuity of care by allowing us to treat the whole person, not just the eating disorder in isolation. In my experience working across levels of care, I’ve seen how important it is to honor and value the life someone has worked hard to build. Careers, relationships, parenting roles, education, and community involvement all matter. Treatment should consider those pieces rather than automatically requiring someone to step away from them.

There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to recovery. For some individuals, competing priorities can absolutely become a barrier to meaningful engagement in treatment. At times, recovery truly does require pausing other responsibilities and placing healing first. Higher levels of care exist for that reason, and they can be lifesaving when needed.

However, virtual IOP can serve as a powerful option before we reach that point. It allows individuals to receive structured, clinically robust support while still maintaining key aspects of their daily lives. Clients are able to practice skills in real time, in their own kitchens, within their actual routines, and alongside real-world stressors, rather than in a contained environment that feels separate from life outside treatment.

By integrating recovery into daily living, EDCare’s Virtual IOP often strengthens continuity of care and reduces disruption, while still holding firm boundaries around accountability and therapeutic expectations. It provides an opportunity to prioritize recovery without immediately dismantling the life someone has worked so hard to create.

One misconception I often hear is that virtual eating disorder treatment is either a “lesser” version of in-person care or meant to replace it entirely. I like to clarify that it’s neither. Virtual IOP is simply another thoughtfully designed pathway to recovery. Different people need different levels of support at different times, and our team carefully assesses whether the virtual setting is an appropriate and supportive fit. If someone would benefit from a higher level of care, we collaborate transparently and compassionately around next steps.

Another common misconception is that virtual treatment is extremely flexible or self-paced. While participating from home can feel more comfortable and accessible, the care itself remains structured and evidence-based. Recovery still requires consistency, accountability, and meaningful engagement. Virtual IOP includes scheduled programming, therapeutic support, meal support, and skills practice, all designed to create stability and momentum in recovery.

I also gently remind clients that even though virtual care allows them to remain in their daily lives, it is still an intentional time commitment. Choosing recovery means carving out space to prioritize mental, physical, and emotional well-being. The benefit is that this work happens within the context of real life, which can make skills more immediately applicable and sustainable.

Ultimately, virtual treatment is not about doing less, it’s about making high-quality care more accessible while maintaining the structure and clinical depth that recovery deserves.

I would encourage them to assess readiness, medical stability, and the home environment first. Virtual IOP works best when someone is medically stable and has a safe, supportive space to participate in treatment.

I’d also remind them that connection is possible even through a screen. If they are open, engaged, and willing to participate, meaningful progress can happen.

Last but certainly not the least important piece of advice, bring your pets to program. Truly, one of the unexpected gifts of virtual treatment is that we get to meet your furry family members. They often become part of the recovery environment, offering comfort, grounding, and moments of lightness in meaningful work. We love seeing them!

Ultimately, I would say: if accessibility, privacy, flexibility, and integration into daily life matter to you, virtual IOP can be a powerful and effective option for eating disorder recovery.

Nutrition Support in the Real World

Q&A with Abby House, MHP, RD, CEDS, Registered Dietitian

Nutrition rehabilitation is a cornerstone of eating disorder recovery. In Virtual IOP, clients work directly with their dietitian while navigating meals, snacks, grocery shopping, cooking, and other real-world challenges in their own environment. Abby House shares how virtual nutrition support at EDCare helps clients build trust in both food and their bodies.

Rebuilding trust with food inherently involves rebuilding trust with our bodies. Helping my clients eat adequately sends the message to the body that it can trust in being fed consistently. Physical hunger can initially be a scary, foreign experience for some. I like to think of physical hunger as a solicitor knocking on your door. When we ignore hunger/the solicitor repeatedly, it will stop coming. Recovery is about taking the “no soliciting” sign off your door and answering the door/honoring the hunger.

Initially, we may not feel hunger at all, and following the meal plan will help bring this important piece of body trust back. In other cases, my clients are overwhelmed with emotional hunger. Building trust in food/body involves eating adequately with all foods in moderation, balance and variety, knowing that working towards food neutrality is a powerful tool in stopping the shame cycle.

I also honor my clients who have ARFID and/or are neurodivergent and may have never experienced hunger cues; we instead work on following a structured eating routine and rely on preferred foods in times of acute distress. The beauty of doing all of this in your home environment is that you get to do this work while directly facing stressors/triggers in your real-life, rather than being in a treatment center and having to overcome those real-life challenges on your own.

One of my favorite things about virtual nutrition support is that I get to directly see what my clients are choosing to eat, rather than a treatment center providing it. This opens up so many opportunities to support my clients with addressing portioning skills, food rigidity, cooking skills, meal planning, dietary variety, and food insecurity. Working through these challenges gives my clients real-world experiences in challenging the eating disorder head-on, which builds more confidence and resilience in recovery. There are also more opportunities to individualize food exposure work by having a broader variety of foods patients can access.

Common challenges in the virtual space include portioning meals/snacks, accessing cost-prohibitive oral nutrition supplements, needing to avoid seeing their weight, and limitations on accountability with following meal plan.

  • With portioning, we use a visual plate method for meals and hand portioning visuals for snacks to move away from calorie counting and weighing/measuring food. It is based on the exchange system but removes the math of it all. In aiming for an “about right” portion, I help my clients interrupt the eating disorder’s rigidity and practice tolerating associated distress.
  • Oral nutrition supplements, like Boost or Ensure, can be very costly. When available in my clients’ locations, I coordinate a prescription with a local home care supply company so they can be accessed at a reduced or no cost.
  • Many clients feel anxious about how their weight checks will be completed, as seeing their weight can ignite the eating disorder. This problem is solved by sending clients numberless scales where they can have their weight tracked only by the treatment team.
  • For added accountability with following meal plan outside of program hours, I have my clients connect with me on Recovery Record. This allows me to give feedback on meals/snacks and touch on points of discussion/exploration about challenges/successes that occurred over the prior week.

Building Connection and Community Through Virtual Care

Q&A with Evelyn Broad, MA, LPCC, Milieu Therapist

One of the most common concerns people have about virtual treatment is whether meaningful connection can happen through a screen. As a Milieu Therapist, Evelyn helps create a supportive therapeutic environment where clients can feel connected, accountable, and less alone in recovery.

Supporting patients between structured therapy sessions includes providing a consistent presence in the virtual milieu to assess safety, respond to needs, and encourage engagement. This also looks like ensuring a safe, confidential, inclusive, and recovery-focused environment. I provide a supportive space to go over pre-program check-ins, where patients can reflect on recovery-focused goals. This time is also used to address concerns, behaviors, discuss coping skills, and offer space if anything else comes up.

I recognize that joining a virtual IOP program can present initial uncertainty. I strive to respond with empathy and validation, creating a supportive environment where patients can feel supported. Engagement and participation are encouraged as well, with the goal of peer connection and cohesion. I support patients by modeling behaviors, such as active listening, and promoting exploration of thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

Using mindfulness, especially prior to meals, allows presence, awareness around physical or emotional cues, and self-regulation. I support patients during meals through encouragement and prosocial conversation, while redirecting any inappropriate or triggering conversations if they arise. I reinforce the use of coping skills and accountability during meal time, while also creating a safe space for patients to share outcomes and feelings afterwards.

I monitor group dynamics and provide gentle redirection if necessary to keep discussions productive and ensure everyone feels seen, heard, and supported. I also provide support during checkouts to promote reflection, increased awareness, and identify ways of coping. Safety is also addressed privately during this time with providers, allowing for needs and additional support if needed.

The virtual milieu helps clients feel less alone in recovery by promoting a safe and supported space for patients to share and focus on their own recovery journey. Despite physical distance, the virtual milieu provides a space for real-time support, validation, connection, and accountability.

Additionally, the support offered in the milieu provides a sense of routine, even in a virtual setting, seen through structured programming for each day. Group members participate in group programming and have supportive meals and snacks with one another, engaging in conversation and material. The accessibility of a virtual milieu allows patients to connect with others despite physical barriers, reducing isolation and providing a consistent therapeutic environment.

Staff provide a supportive environment for prosocial conversation and connection to take place, allowing others to feel less alone. Moving towards universality in the virtual milieu allows others to recognize they are not alone in their recovery journey. Through learning and holding space for one another, the virtual milieu can foster a space for greater connection and trust to be built. Facilitating a conversation during a group can promote a reduction in stigma or shame, with the goal of moving towards a space of group cohesion.

The combination of peer experiences and provider involvement allows for the virtual milieu to blossom, promoting engagement and a sense of belonging. Additionally, the providers within this team are deeply committed to ensuring patients feel seen and connected throughout their recovery journey.

Ready to Learn More About Virtual IOP?

Whether you’re looking for a treatment option that fits alongside work, school, or family responsibilities, or you’re preparing to step down from a higher level of care, EDCare’s Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program may be an effective next step in your recovery journey.

Our team offers complimentary assessments to help determine the most appropriate level of care and answer any questions you may have about treatment options.

To learn more or get started, complete our online inquiry form and a member of our Admissions team will reach out to discuss your needs and help you explore the next steps toward recovery.