Chronic Illness
Living with Chronic Illness Can Affect More Than Your Physical Health
Living with chronic illness can impact every area of life—your relationships, work, identity, mood, energy, eating patterns, sleep, and sense of safety in your own body.
Many of the clients we work with have spent years navigating chronic pain, autoimmune disease, POTS, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), MCAS, Long COVID, hormonal conditions, gastrointestinal disorders, and other invisible illnesses. Along the way, many have experienced anxiety, depression, medical trauma, body image concerns, eating difficulties, and the exhaustion of feeling misunderstood.
At Healing Roots Wellness Center, we provide chronic illness therapy through a body-led, nervous-system-informed approach that recognizes the deep connection between physical and mental health.
You do not have to navigate it alone.
Chronic Illness, Invisible Illness,
Living with a chronic health condition often requires far more than managing symptoms. Many individuals find themselves grieving the loss of how life used to feel, struggling to trust their bodies, navigating difficult healthcare experiences, and carrying the emotional burden of uncertainty.
Chronic illness can influence:
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Anxiety and chronic stress
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Depression and hopelessness
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Burnout and exhaustion
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Social isolation
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Identity shifts
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Body image concerns
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Relationships and intimacy
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Work and career challenges
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Sleep disturbances
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Eating difficulties and food fears
These responses are not signs of weakness. They are often understandable responses to living in a body that requires more care, attention, and adaptation than others may realize.
The Intersection of Chronic Illness and Eating Disorders
Krista Day-Gloe is especially known for her work at the intersection of chronic illness and eating disorders. Many individuals living with chronic health conditions develop complicated relationships with food, body image, appetite, food fears, medical diets, ARFID symptoms, or disordered eating patterns. Therapy can help untangle these challenges while supporting both physical and emotional well-being.
Healing Roots Wellness Center is uniquely positioned to support individuals whose chronic health conditions intersect with eating disorders, disordered eating, ARFID, food anxiety, body image concerns, or medically restrictive diets.
Many individuals living with chronic illness find themselves navigating complicated relationships with food. Dietary restrictions, gastrointestinal symptoms, medication side effects, appetite changes, sensory sensitivities, fear of symptom flares, and body changes can all impact how someone relates to eating.
These experiences are often misunderstood by providers who focus solely on eating disorders or solely on medical conditions.
Our approach recognizes the complexity of both.
We help clients untangle the relationship between physical health needs, emotional well-being, nervous system responses, and eating patterns while honoring the realities of living with a chronic health condition.
A Body Led Approach to Chronic Health Issues
Living with chronic illness often teaches people to distrust their bodies. After years of symptoms, appointments, testing, flares, and conflicting information, many individuals find themselves feeling disconnected from their own internal experiences.
At Healing Roots Wellness Center, we take a body-led approach to chronic illness therapy that recognizes the body is not the enemy. While symptoms may feel confusing, overwhelming, or frustrating, we believe they are often meaningful signals that deserve curiosity rather than judgment.
Our work integrates nervous system regulation, Polyvagal-informed care, somatic awareness, EMDR therapy, and psychoeducation to help individuals better understand the connection between physiology, emotions, behavior, and overall well-being. We explore how chronic stress, pain, uncertainty, medical trauma, hormonal shifts, and nervous system dysregulation can influence mood, energy, relationships, eating patterns, sleep, and daily functioning.
Rather than focusing solely on symptom management, we help clients develop a deeper understanding of their unique nervous system and learn practical ways to work with their bodies rather than against them. Many clients find that this shift creates greater self-compassion, improved emotional resilience, and a stronger sense of trust in themselves.
Our goal is not to convince you that your symptoms are “all in your head.” Instead, we help you understand how the mind and body continuously influence one another, creating opportunities for healing, regulation, and improved quality of life.
Virtual Chronic Illness Therapy
Healing Roots Wellness Center provides virtual therapy for individuals navigating chronic illness, chronic pain, autoimmune disease, eating disorders, trauma, ADHD, and related concerns.
While based in the Kansas City area, our clinicians work with clients across multiple states through secure telehealth services. This allows individuals living with chronic illness to access support from the comfort of their own homes while reducing the barriers that often accompany ongoing health concerns.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re looking for a therapist who understands the complex relationship between chronic illness, mental health, eating disorders, hormones, and the nervous system, we’re here to help.
Contact Healing Roots Wellness Center to schedule a consultation and learn whether our approach may be a good fit for your needs.
