Our Story
Welcome to EDCI. We welcome all races/ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, body sizes, income levels, abilities, religions/spiritualities and are committed to the inclusion and well-being of all Iowans. EDCI recognizes that there are multiple treatment theories and approaches to recovery from an eating disorder and that different modalities can be utilized to meet individual needs. EDCI is committed to ongoing learning, education, and advocacy. We are glad that you are here and welcome you to the EDCI community. Please contact edci@edciowa.org with any questions or concerns.
Vision, Mission and Values
The vision of EDCI is an Iowa with increased access to weight inclusive education and care for the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.
The mission of the Eating Disorder Coalition of Iowa (EDCI) is to provide inclusive education about disordered eating and to change cultural narratives regarding food, bodies, exercise, weight, and health. We serve Iowa providers by facilitating training opportunities to elevate the proficiency of disordered eating care. We seek to be a catalyst of hope, acceptance, understanding, and healing to the larger Iowa community.
We care about PEOPLE:
We welcome all races/ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, body sizes, income levels, abilities, religions/spiritualities and are committed to the inclusion and well-being of all Iowans
We are committed to ongoing learning, education, and advocacy to continuously supporting all voices ​​
We care about WEIGHT ACCEPTANCE and ELIMINATING FAT BIAS:Â
We believe in a weight inclusive approach, such as the Health at Every Size® model.
We believe all bodies are worthy. Period.
We believe in not prescribing weight loss as a treatment option, as we know the harm this causes.
We believe in a cultural mindset shift away from the thin ideal.
We reject the use of BMI as a health marker as it is inherently flawed and has racist roots.
We believe in supporting folks as they move from body hatred to body neutrality or body tolerance. ​
We care about NUTRITIONAL PEACE and WELLBEING:
We believe that all foods fit, and reject all moralizing language regarding food and bodies. (good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, etc.)
We believe that getting enough food is often the first step to recovery and long-term wellbeing.
We reject diet culture, diets and restrictive practices.
We acknowledge how food insecurity is a significant concern for Iowans.
We believe wellbeing looks different for everyone, and involves infinitely more than food and movement.
We believe in caring for ourselves wholly (as much as is realistic and within each person’s individual capacity) – mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.
We believe health is a privilege, not a moral obligation.
We believe movement should be joyful rather than punitive/compensatory.
We believe in prioritizing rest.
We believe in access to care for all Iowans.
The EDCI Board
Suzanne Hull
Executive Director
EDCI leadership is pleased to welcome Suzanne Hull to our team as Executive Director. Suzanne brings with her twelve years of experience managing a variety of boutique membership associations. She enjoys reading, cycling and traveling and lives with her husband in Pleasant Hill, IA.
Gabriella Sloan, LMHC, LCPC
​Past President, Content Creation Chair
Gabbie is a survivor of anorexia living with her husband and dog in Illinois. She finds joy in compassionate work and loving others, which led her to apply to become a member of the EDCI.
Gabbie has a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She works as a therapist at a private practice where she specializes in providing care for individuals with eating disorders, anxiety and obsessive disorders, phobias, infertility, and autism spectrum disorder. She loves including expressive art therapy in her work and is currently studying Internal Family Systems and Compassion Focused Therapy for Eating Disorders. She has an undergraduate degree in Modern Language that lends to her love of reading and writing.
Stephanie Proud, RDN, LD, CNSC
President
Stephanie is a Registered Dietitian and the owner of Proud Peaceful Nutrition, an outpatient nutrition therapy practice serving clients in Iowa and Illinois. Her passion and specialty lies in supporting teens and adults with eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image concerns, with a heart for dancers and student athletes. She is currently serving as President Elect for the Eating Disorder Coalition of Iowa and played an active role in bringing their new textED resource to life. Stephanie is actively completing her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) requirements. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, watching her kids dance and play ball, cheering on the Hawkeyes, and walking her dog Margo.
Sara Schwatken, Ph.D., CEDS
Treasurer, Web/Design Chair
Sara is a licensed psychologist practicing in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Sara is pleased to have completed her board certification as a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) with the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP), specializing in binge eating disorder and atypical anorexia. Sara has served on the board of the Eating Disorder Coalition of Iowa since 2020 and is proud to have spearheaded the Healthcare Training Initiative to reduce weight stigma and encourage a weight-neutral approach to healthcare for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. In her free time, Dr. Schwatken enjoys experimenting with new recipes and experiencing the rollercoaster of emotions in being an Iowa State athletics fan.
Kerri Patton FNP-C, PMHNP-BC, PLLC
Member at Large
I grew up during the height of the fitness boom. In high school, I lived on diet coke and popcorn. I worked out to Jane Fonda, took step classes and shopped at 5-7-9 stores. I counted calories and watched all the 80’s lifetime movies glamourizing thinness as health. During college and nursing school, I began to learn healthier habits but from the perspective of health prevention and risk factors. That perspective did not change when I became a nurse practitioner. It was all about BMI, healthy habits, and good versus bad food. In other words, the war on fat continued.
Years later, moving to Iowa, I worked at a surgical weight loss center as the medical weight loss provider. This was only meant as a temporary stop gap, but ended up shaping me in so many ways. I learned that most if not all patients I saw had disordered eating and behind that was often years of trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses.
This began a deeper journey into eating disorders. A journey I had been on since high school, but now could see more clearly than ever what was behind my disordered habits and glamorization of a certain body type. I learned more about eating disorders and my interest in psychiatry and mental health grew. I finally went back to school and obtained my psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. I opened Luna Mental Health, PLLC in West Des Moines, in October, 2023. I continue to learn and specialize in eating disorders. EDCI has been a big part of that education and journey. A missing puzzle piece. I have met and worked with so many great people. I am very honored and excited to have a bigger role in the organization and continue serving others through awareness, education, and mental health treatment.
Kathleen O'Connor, LCPC, LMHC, CEDS-S
Secretary, Healthcare Chair
Kathleen is a licensed mental health counselor based in Chicago, Illinois. She has extensive training in the field of eating disorders and is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Supervisor. Prior to starting her own practice, Ailm Therapy, she oversaw eating disorder programming and treatment at the residential level of care, where it became clear that those from Iowa needed more providers with the skills to manage eating disorders and the co-occurring complexities that come with them.
When she's not treating those who struggle with eating disorders and disordered eating, Kathleen enjoys traveling, reading, reality TV, and spending time with her husband & dog, Finn!
Abbie Scott RD, LD
President Elect, Development Chair
Abbie (she/her/hers) is an anti-diet Registered Dietitian with over a decade of experience in the nutrition field. She has worked in multiple levels of care at eating disorder treatment centers, and more recently providing outpatient nutrition counseling to her clients. Abbie is passionate about advocacy for ED awareness, prevention, and improved treatment accessibility for Iowans.
In her free time, Abbie loves spending time with friends and family, deepening her yoga/meditation practice, and exploring new creative outlets. You can always count on her to have a new book, TV show, movie or podcast recommendation for you!
Eva Schoen, Ph.D.
Board Member, Training Chair
Eva is a licensed psychologist with expertise in the treatment of eating disorders, complex trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She sees patients in individual and group therapy for these concerns and is the director of an inpatient and partial eating disorder program where she work as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team. As part of her job, she also teaches and supervises future mental health professionals. I have specialized training in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR). She has a particular interest in the intersection between physical and psychological health. In her free time, Eva enjoys many outdoor activities, attending her children’s various events, reading, and traveling.
Stephanie Albers, PhD, LMHC
Board Member
Stephanie is a licensed clinical therapist who currently works at Libra Virtual Care as a contractor and is also employed at Project HEAL as the Clinical Assessment Program Manager. Stephanie worked in counseling in higher education for 15 years with a focus on creating access to education for individuals with marginalized identities. Prior to working in higher education, Stephanie worked in community mental health agencies and local eating disorder treatment programs. Stephanie holds a doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology and a master’s degree in Community Mental Health Counseling, both from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She maintains a clinical mental health practitioner license in the states of Nebraska, Iowa, and Idaho. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, hiking, and being a pretty average cyclist.
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Sabrina Rogers, LMHC
Board Member, Outreach Coordinator
Sabrina Rogers is a passionate and highly skilled mental health professional with extensive experience in treating eating disorders through a weight neutral and intuitive eating framework. In 2023 Sabrina transitioned from a solo provider to owning a group practice where her deep commitment to client-centered care shifted to teaching and supervising provisionally licensed providers and master’s student interns, fostering their growth in the field. Additionally, Sabrina the author of a 90-day body image journal and the host of a podcast dedicated to mental health and body neutrality. She is awaiting approval of her CEDS (certified eating disorder specialist) through iadep (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals).
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Member, Fudraising Chair
Annie Wells is a Registered Dietitian and nutrition educator with over a decade of experience supporting individuals and communities in improving their health through food. She teaches nutrition at Kirkwood Community College and owns Annie Wells Nutrition, a private practice focused on eating disorder recovery using a weight-inclusive, Intuitive Eating approach. In addition to serving on the board of EDCI, she serves on the board of Feed Iowa First, where she helps lead community outreach efforts and increase access to fresh, culturally relevant produce. Annie is passionate about building healthier, more equitable communities through expanding access to compassionate nutrition expertise. In her spare time she enjoys reading, baking, traveling, and spending time with her husband, four children, and dog named Wasabi.
Emily Flanagan, T-LMHC
Board Member, Professional Member Chair
Emily (she/her/hers) resides with her family in Iowa City, Iowa, and loves making music with friends, learning new things, and being outside. She is passionate about supporting individuals in addressing disordered eating and body image concerns. Emily joined EDCI to increase societal awareness of the importance of a weight- and size-neutral approach.
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She earned a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a temporarily licensed therapist in Iowa. Emily practices from a Health at Every Size (HAES) approach and is honored to see clients for individual therapy in private practice.