Jackie Abeling, MA, LMFT

About

  • Pronouns: she/her

  • Occupation and Specialty: Therapist working at the intersection of eating disorders and neurodivergence, particularly perfectionistic ADHD-ers diagnosed later in life

  • Location (Clinic/hospital): Embodied Journeys Psychotherapy

  • Location (City): Minnesota, Washington, British Columbi

  • Offers Telehealth: Yes

  • Contact Information: www.embodiedjourneyspsychotherapy.com

  • Bio: I work with ADHDers, especially late-diagnosed women and gender-expansive folx, who are exhausted from holding the world together for everyone else, while screaming at themselves for struggling. I am a Certified Body Trust® Provider who works from a body and brain liberation perspective, which encourages more flexibility, community building, self-compassion, and pushing back against oppressive systems.

Approach to care

  • What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?

    My approach with fat bodies is informed by the fat liberation movement. I celebrate all body types, and I recognize our society privileges thin bodies and excludes and demeans fat ones. I actively advocate for and encourage the folx I work with to exist and joyfully take up space exactly as you are as an act of liberation and rebellion.

  • What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?

    Health and weight do NOT have a causal relationship. Social determinants of health are much better indicators of a person's quality of life and impact people of all body sizes. Frankly, I don't like using the word "health" because it's too complex to be distilled into healthy and not healthy and does people a real disservice, especially with the folx I work with who tend think in black and white terms.

  • Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…” 

    complex and dynamic human beings who deserve access to healthcare and all other areas of life that are enjoyed by those in straight-sized bodies.

  • How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?

    I don't use the BMI in my practice, although it is part of the criteria for eating disorder diagnosis, however I ignore that and diagnose when all other criterion are met.

  • If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?

    N/A

  • If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?

    Great! My job is to address the client's actual concerns.

  • Do you offer weight loss as a service, and if so, how much of your practice is this? What do you do if a patient requests your assistance with losing weight?

    No, weight loss is not part of my offerings. When a client brings up weight loss, I help them explore the desire, offer information based on validated weight science, and provide space for the client to make informed decisions about their body.

  • What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not? 

    I am a fully virtual practice currently and I have no office space.

  • What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office? 

    N/A

  • If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so. 

    I hold a lot of privilege in terms of my own identities and I acknowledge that from the very beginning. It's on my website and I talk about it in consultations before we even book the first appointment. I acknowledge that I won't always be able to relate personally or be intimately familiar with their individual experiences, yet I do have the capacity for empathy and I am curious about my clients' perspectives and experiences throughout our work together.

Profile last updated August 2026