About Us
Our Treatment Team
The Eating Disorder Center of San Diego came together out of seasoned professionals already established in private practice, focused wholly on companioning and empowering clients into lasting recovery. We know the road to recovery often comes with ambivalence and doubt. When we walk with you, you have dedicated support every step of the way.
PAGE M. LAUER, MFT, Director
Page is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been directing wellness centers and treating eating disorders, trauma and women’s issues since 1998. She has been awarded advanced degrees in marriage and family therapy and sociology. Believing strongly in the healing connection between mind, body, and emotions, she has also received training and certification in Somatic Experiencing, Yoga Instruction, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Psychodrama. Through a combination of insight, acceptance and support, she has assisted many women find healing and confidence beyond the eating disorder: “I am dedicated to companioning women in their healing process, that they may know joy and confidence in every aspect of their personal relationships and professional lives.” Page’s role includes personally working with clients to create the best treatment plan possible, targeting client’s changing needs as recovery unfolds. Page currently serves on the Board of Directors for both the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT).
MEGAN WILSON, Psy.D, Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Wilson is a licensed clinical psychologist committed to using evidenced-based interventions in the treatment of potentially high risk cases including eating disorders, addiction, trauma, abuse, and adolescent issues. She has experience in residential treatment of eating disorders and also specializes in sexual abuse and trauma, utilizing EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) and TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) in the treatment of traumatic symptoms. Megan is also a certified MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) instructor and proficient in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), modalities using the concept of mindfulness to improve emotion regulation. Her goal, in supporting your recovery, is to guide you through healing from losses or traumas and reconnect you with your healthy self and sacred body.
SUSAN SWARTZ, MFT, Program Therapist
Susan is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been treating eating disorders since 2006, and addictions, trauma, and grief and loss since 2002. Besides being awarded an advanced degree in marriage and family therapy, Susan is also trained and/or certified in Gottman’s Therapy for Couples, Yoga Instruction, Psychodrama, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Having personally experienced the healing power of hatha yoga combined with emotion-focused psychotherapy, Susan is committed to bringing both strands into her sessions. Through mind-body approaches, Susan assists clients in re-connecting with themselves, so that health, confidence, problem-solving, and contentment become natural components of everyday life: “My hope in supporting eating disorder recovery is to help clients create lives they love to live.”
AMY RYK, MA, Program Therapist and Admissions Specialist
Amy received her Master’s Degree in Clinical Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. She has worked in the mental health field, specializing in Eating Disorders in both residential and outpatient settings, since 2006. Amy values the way therapy supports and empowers clients to navigate the complex and sometimes confusing journey of the human experience. By exploring and transforming thought and behavior patterns that restrict fullness of being, one is given the opportunity to restore joy, confidence and authenticity, ultimately approaching life with more purpose, awareness and direction! At EDCSD, Amy’s role includes facilitating individual, group and family therapy as well as supporting clients through challenges around meals. Amy also works closely with clients to have the best treatment experience possible, targeting your specific needs in relation to beginning treatment, understanding the process, obtaining and utilizing insurance resources, and feeling companioned and supported the whole way through.
MADISON OMHOLT, PhD, MFT, SEP, Program Therapist
Madison is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who’s been practicing and teaching holistic transformation in individuals and couples since the 1980s. He holds an MA in Marital and Family Therapy and a PhD in Healing through Dialogue, which is a holistic approach to growth and the reawakening of love in relationships. As a 25-year practitioner of the yoga and meditation traditions, Dr. Omholt believes in the restorative power of these approaches and seeks to create an environment where peace, wisdom and healing can be cultivated within each client. He is a trained Somatic Experiencing Trauma Practitioner (SEP) and works with clients to understand and become increasingly aware of their body in the successful treatment of trauma. Madison’s desire is to assist clients in learning to uncover the natural healing processes in the body to release anxieties, worries and past traumas. He believes people have the greatest capacity for authentic healing and wholeness when they feel supported and are able to cultivate a deep sense of well-being.
ALISON CHAMBERS, MFT, Program Therapist
Ali is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who has been treating eating disorders, women’s issues, trauma, grief and loss, and spiritual concerns since 1990. In addition to her advanced degree in marriage and family therapy, Ali has extensive training in both spiritual psychology and energy healing, believing that true healing occurs at the energetic level. Having experienced the incredible power of healing energy herself, she is dedicated to supporting and educating others in connecting with their body, mind, emotions and spirit to access personal transformation. She views eating disorders as symptomatic and symbolic of living disorders, and that by learning to understand the message(s) of the eating disorder, one can use that insight to transform the dysfunction into creative opportunities. With non-judgmental acceptance, Ali’s role is your recovery is to gently guide you toward connecting with your true power, inner knowing and healing potential.
HANNA KLUNER, PRYT, CYT, Yoga Therapist
Hanna is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Yoga Instructor, Grief and Loss Specialist, and Energy Healer. She began her passion for traditional psychological study in Canada at the University of Manitoba. Intrigued by holistic and alternative methods, she delved into mind-body based healing in 2003, developing her knowledge of yoga, meditation, energy healing and yoga therapy. By using the body as a pathway to inner wisdom, Hanna has assisted many individuals find relief and healing from eating disorders, depression, trauma, anxiety, perfectionism and body-image distortion. Hanna’s role in your recovery will be to assist you in experiencing and understanding your body’s wisdom as well as applying this awareness toward healing. She brings a depth of care, compassion and insight to her sessions.
TISH MCALLISE SJOBERG, MA, CAGS, Expressive Arts Therapist
Tish is an Expressive Arts Therapist who has been facilitating healing through the arts for adolescents, eating disorder sufferers, and hospice patients since 2005. Tish is a graduate of the Expressive Arts Institute in San Diego and received her Master’s Degree from the European Graduate School in Switzerland. Her background in hospice and grief work brings a sensitivity of loss to all her work, knowing that most forms of illness, including eating disorders, often involve the experience of feeling loss, or that something is broken or missing. Tish also specializes in working with people who are afraid to do art and helps them build creative confidence that then serves them in everyday life. The arts can be a powerful tool to delve into challenges and look for new information or to take a vacation from the challenges and reduce stress. In working with eating disorders, Tish helps clients wake up their senses and satisfy their creative hunger, ultimately to live a more vibrant, yet relaxed, authentic life.
HEATHER MCCRACKEN COHEN, MPH, RD, Registered Dietitian
Heather is a registered dietitian who has provided nutritional counseling since 1999. Her Master’s Degree in Public Health trained her in eating disorders, sports nutrition, and general well-being, but most of all, the importance of treating the whole person. Heather knows her number one teammate is always the client and that the client is truly an expert in what works for them. Additionally, she is experienced in working within a multidisciplinary approach, collaborating with physicians, therapists and other treatment professionals in order to form an effective team for clients. Because her overall goal is to assist clients in developing a healthy eating style that works for them, she uses a non-diet approach and encourages clients to look at both short-term and long-term goals. Heather would like to personally help you develop a new relationship with food and your body, resolving preoccupations with calories, weight and meal intake. Her ultimate goal for you is to realize a new freedom in everyday life!
JESSICA MITCHELL, MS, Director of Operations and Admissions
Jessica received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2001. She has worked in outpatient facilities, psychiatric and hospital settings and has provided therapy for victims of abuse. Jessica has extensive experience conducting intake assessments and coordinating services with multi-disciplinary teams. As Resource Coordinator with the San Diego Regional Center, Jessica oversaw the contract negotiation and program implementation for residential facilities in San Diego County. She managed each project to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines and quality assurance related to client care. At EDCSD, Jessica both oversees admissions and collaborates with the clinical team toward the development of best practices in alignment with the vision and mission of the Center. Jessica believes that organizational excellence is a key thread in the fabric of the Center, which helps to cultivate a secure foundation from which clients can trust, heal and rebuild. Her goal is to create a warm and supportive environment to allow for the clients’ deepest growth.