Lily Thrope wants you to know that when it comes to disordered eating in teens, full recovery is completely possible.
Before parents find themselves on a call with one of Thrope Therapy's clinicians, they start noticing signs that concern them, often over the course of months:
1. Their teen may start speaking more negatively about bodies: theirs or others'
2. Their eating habits might change
3. They may be becoming more rigid with exercise
4. They might be showing other signs of anxiety or depression
But parents often think: "I'm just overreacting," "It's a phase," "She eats plenty at home," or "Surely, the pediatrician would have flagged it if something was wrong."
But eating disorders don't always present in the ways parents expect.
In this series, Lily Thrope dives into everything parents need to know to get their teens the help they need before the "little things" become big ones.
You'll learn:
1. The most surprising signs of eating disorders in teens
2. The most dangerous myths and misconceptions about disordered eating most people don't realize
3. How eating disorders present differently in teen girls vs. teen boys
4. How eating disorders affect teens in larger bodies at staggering rates, and why they get missed
5. How to cope with the emotions that come up for parents who worked so hard to "do everything right"
6. How to talk to your teen about your concerns, even if they're denying there's something wrong
7. What therapy can look like for eating disorder recovery
8. When to consider getting help for your teen, yourself, and your family
Our final episode is for you and your teen to listen to together, so you don't have to go it alone.
Things might feel heavy right now, but don't forget: full recovery is possible.
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
This episode is for both parents and teens to listen to together.
If you're listening to this one, someone in your house cares about you enough to bring you here, or maybe you brought yourself. Either way, I made this conversation for you and your parent to listen to together, and I want you to know right away: whatever you're feeling about food or your body, you are not the only person who has ever felt that way. Far from it. But you also need to know: it's totally possible to feel a lot better about food and your body without giving up the most important parts of yourself.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● What I want you to know about the work I do and why I do it, straight from me to you
● Whether other people really do think about food and their bodies the way you do
● What's possible if you can't imagine ever thinking about food differently
● A few real stories from teens I've worked with
● What happens in your body and mind when you get help
● What I'd say to someone who doesn't want to change anything, even if part of them knows something's off
● What it's like to work with a therapist, and what to expect walking in
● What I think every parent listening with you right now truly wants for you
● The one small step you and your parent could take together today
10 Sept 2026
06 What Getting Your Teen Help Actually Looks Like: What Eating Disorder Therapy Looks Like, What to Expect, and How to Help Your Teen Through the Door
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
Saying "my teen needs help" out loud for the first time is often the hardest part. In this episode, I want to take away the mystery of what actually happens once you decide to get your teen support, from the very first phone call all the way through to what real progress looks like.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● What the intake process looks like when a parent first reaches out
● What I want you to know if you're nervous about encouraging your teen to start a recovery journey
● How teens tend to feel about starting therapy
● What needs to happen at home in between weekly sessions
● What to consider if there are other siblings in the house
● The different therapeutic approaches parents should know about, and how we match a therapist to a teen
● Why a parent and teen can absolutely work with separate therapists at the same practice
● What happens inside a session, and the biggest misconceptions about what therapy is not
● How to know if progress is really happening
● What to do if your teen is refusing help altogether
● What I want every parent to know is possible for their kid
10 Sept 2026
05 The World Teens Are Growing Up In: The Reality of Social Media, GLP-1s, and the New Landscape of Body Image
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
We grew up with magazines and TV with fictional characters. That's not the world your teen is growing up in, and I don't think most parents realize how different it is. This conversation is my honest look at what's shaping how your teen sees food and their body right now.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● How the culture we grew up in compares to what teens are surrounded by today
● What social media has changed about this conversation
● "What I eat in a day" content, and what else might be flying under your radar
● Is all fitness content is harmful, or is it more nuanced than that?
● Are there any upsides to social media worth protecting?
● Is taking away the phone the right move?
● How GLP-1 and Ozempic messaging is reaching teens, including teens in larger bodies
● Why teens turning to AI with their food and body struggles worries me
● What I want every parent to know about building discernment, since the phone isn't going anywhere
● How to talk to your teen about what they're seeing online without making things worse
10 Sept 2026
04 Coping With Guilt as a Parent: What You Need to Know About the Role You Play in Your Teen's Recovery
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
So many of the parents who reach out to me did everything they could think of to do this differently than their own parents did, and their kid is still struggling. If that's you, I need you to hear this conversation, because there's a difference between guilt that helps and guilt that just keeps you stuck.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● What parents are feeling emotionally when their teen enters eating disorder recovery
● How much a parent's own history with food and body image plays into what's happening now
● What to do with the grief of doing everything "right" and still ending up here
● Why I recommend parents get their own support alongside their teen's
● What diet culture in the home can look like, even when it's subtle
● What to do first if you realize your own relationship with food isn't as healthy as you thought
● The ways well-meaning parents can accidentally make things harder
● What to actually say to your teen, whether they're open to the conversation or
completely closed off
10 Sept 2026
03 Why Your Teen's Relationship With Food Is About So Much More Than Food
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
Once you understand what's actually driving the eating disorder, everything about how you respond to your teen changes. This one goes underneath the behavior, into what I actually see happening emotionally for the teens I work with, and why "just eat more" is never the answer.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● What's typically happening underneath the surface that leads to an eating disorder in the first place
● Which personality types are more likely to develop a disordered relationship with food
● What role being a high achiever can play in all of this
● What "food noise" actually means, and why it matters so much in this conversation
● How a well-intentioned exercise routine can spiral into something else
● Why our culture keeps congratulating the exact behaviors that are early warning signs
● The long-term risks of disordered eating in teens
● What the eating disorder may be doing emotionally for your kid, before you try to take it away
10 Sept 2026
02 Are You Sure You Know What an Eating Disorder Looks Like? Unpacking the Myths, Misconceptions, and What Gets Missed
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
There's a picture in most people's heads of what an eating disorder looks like, and I promise you, it's wrong more often than it's right. In this episode, we're breaking down the most common and dangerous myths and misconceptions about eating disorders.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● Why eating disorders happen in bodies of all shapes and sizes, and how symptoms present differently
● Why "but she eats at home" doesn't necessarily mean a teen doesn't have an eating disorder
● Why boys are just as much at risk as girls
● Why "it's probably just a phase" is never a safe assumption
● Why doctors and athletic coaches often miss the signs of an eating disorder
● What costs teens the most before they get real support
● Who is more at risk than most people realize, and who tends to get passed over
10 Sept 2026
01 Something Feels Off With My Teen: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Disordered Eating
GET YOUR TEEN SUPPORT FOR DISORDERED EATING https://thropetherapy.com
I meet so many parents who tell me the same thing: I noticed something months ago, and I didn't know if it was worth saying out loud. In this conversation, I'm going to walk you through what I actually see in my practice, so you can trust what you're already sensing in your own house.
In this episode, you'll learn:
● The real difference between an eating disorder, disordered eating, and a teen just going through a phase
● What kind of parent typically ends up calling me, and what's usually already been happening at home before they do
● The early warning signs most parents notice first, often before eating habits become an obvious issue
● How aware teens themselves usually are that something isn't right
● When commenting on what you're noticing can help, and when it can actually make things worse
● How disordered eating shows up differently in teen girls versus teen boys
● What I want you to hear if you're currently in the "maybe I'm overreacting" stage
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