Where are you located?
My office is in the Pantops area of Charlottesville at 175 South Pantops Drive, 3rd floor. I am seeing clients in person (vaccinated and masked) or virtually.
What type of appointments do you offer?
Adults: I work individually with clients starting with an initial 90 minute intake session to establish care. I like to spend a longer length of time with new clients so I can get to know their story and hear about what they have been through and what they are currently hoping for in treatment. Together, we begin to determine a treatment overview and plan which includes a discussion about frequency of appointments. I see clients for one hour follow-up sessions.
Teens: For my teenage clients I take a very family focused approach. I start with a 2 hour initial intake session that is split into 2 hour sessions. The first session I meet with the parent(s)/caretakers of the preteen/teen to begin an assessment of what the child is struggling with and how I might be of support. The second hour I meet with the preteen/teen to complete the initial session. After these two hours, I help the client and family develop an individualized treatment plan for care and support. Follow-up sessions are one hour. For my teenager clients my goal is to support the teen client AND to support the family. Each family is different and needs vary but sessions for family support are often part of my approach with teenagers.
Children: For my younger kids whose parents are concerned about their eating habits or relationship with food, I schedule a 2 hour “workshop” with the parent(s)/caregivers where we have time to talk about what the family is noticing and then have plenty of time for practical and step by step goals to help the family support more peaceful intuitive eating practices in the home.
For more information, check out the podcasts I recorded with my wonderful colleagues and friends at Virginia Family Therapy on Intuitive Eating in Children:
“Disordered Eating – Part 3: The Basics of Intuitive Eating with Ashleigh Sellman, RD
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/
How Many Sessions Will I Need?
All of my care with all of my clients is individualized and varies based on diagnosis, severity, need, as well as budget and readiness for care. This is part of what is discussed in the beginning of treatment. For many of my eating disorder clients, sessions often begin weekly or every other week and then transition into every other week or monthly. We then transition into an as needed basis. I leave it with all of my clients that I am available and all they need to do is reach out if they need a “check in”. Recovery from an eating disorder is a journey of a process and it is very normal for my clients to reach out to me even if it has been some time since they have been seen last.
What Kind of Therapeutic Approaches Do You Use?
Each client’s needs are different and often change from session to session or from month to month. In general, my approach is a very client centered one with focus on my client’s goals and desires for treatment. We establish this from the start: what are we working on and why are we working for it? Some clients need very clear practical meal plan support and there are many ways to do this: structured meal plan, exchange system, plate-based approach, daily goals, ranges and so on. Some clients need the opposite meaning they need to move away from rigidity and structured rules into a more intuitive body based approach. Some clients need to start one way (more structure and monitoring/tracking) until more stability in the eating disorder is reached and then we work toward intuitive eating practices. Whichever way, we will always have a focus on self-awareness, self-check ins, increased attunement to body information and signals, and intuitive eating practices such as normalizing and neutralizing all food, rejecting dieting culture, honoring all bodies, and learning to live in a very disordered world when you are recovering from an eating disorder.
One of my strong strengths in practice is my understanding of the biology, science and medical side of the eating disorder. I LOVE the science under it: Why did the eating disorder develop and why is it so strong? I have found that helping my clients to understand themselves is extremely validating and liberating. You are NOT your eating disorder, it is a functioning part of you that is trying to help you. The biology behind this is fascinating and the treatment to help stabilize the body is essential.
Another of my strengths in practice is my understanding and deep ability to discuss the emotional, psychological, and behavioral complexities of ones relationship with food, movement, and body. This is woven into all sessions, explorations of these topics depending on a clients readiness and desire to explore them.
Within specific therapuetic approaches, I use motivational interviewing and am coach trained so I see my clients already as “whole” and “well” and am here to support you finding your way back to that truth. I am trained in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) for dietitians in eating disorder treatment, as well as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Radical Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (RoDBT) for dietitians working with eating disorder clients. I also am trained in Family Based Treatment (FBT) and am a strong advocate for this effective technique for treatment in teens. I have also done some lovely training specializing in clients with Severe and Enduring Eating Disorders and believe in support for everyone struggling.
Notes from Clients:
Sessions with Ashleigh are very easy. She greets you and does a check in, then asks you for updates from time passed since previous sessions. She is great at handling things that pop up in the off time, but also is great at picking up where you last left off. She really lets the client guide with their heart and mind and conversation easily flows from there.
She is the perfect balance of love and support, she challenges me and also helps me to create lifelong goals, and she gives me materials (advice, books, websites, practical and easy to implement changes).