Abigail Natenshon, MA LCSW, GCFP is a psychotherapist who has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders with individuals and families for the past 40 years. Natenshon is the founder and director of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois: a Clinic without Walls and the author of the book When Your Child Has An Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers (Jossey-Bass Publishers) and Doing What Works: an Integrative Systems for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to Recovery(NASW Press 2009) As a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, Natenshon pioneers in using body-centered techniques to augment and promote body image awareness, acceptance, and healing in individuals with eating and mood disorders.

Natenshon hosts three interactive web sites, www.empoweredparents.com, an informative site for parents of children with eating disorders, www.empoweredkidZ.com, a prevention site for children that provides a wholesome alternative to pernicious pro-anorexic sites, and www.treatingeatingdisorders.com, an educational site designed specifically for health professionals who treat eating disorders. She has appeared frequently on national media as an eating disorder expert, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The John Walsh Show, Starting Over (NBC) as well as on MSNBC, Fox News and National Public Radio, etc.


A graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, Abigail speaks widely to parent and professional audiences in person and online, and maintains a private practice in Highland Park, Illinois where she resides with her husband.

Ms. Natenshon can be contacted here

• Doing What Works: an Integrative System for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to Recovery (NASW Press, 2009)
• The Hadassah Jewish Family Book o f Health and Wellness; Berman, Kurtzweil, Mintz; 2006 Chapter contributed by Abigail Natenshon: "Eating Disorders: The Jewish Community's Perspective"
• When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers 1999 Jossey Bass Publishers
• The Health of Adolescents, American Medical Association, 1991. Co-authored a chapter entitled,Difficulties in Recognizing Adolescent Health Issues.
• Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention; Empowering Parents through Their Child's Eating Disorder Recovery. How I Practice, by Abigail H. Natenshon. Winter 2001
• Our Children, The National PTA Magazine; October 2000; Volume 26 #2 Conquering Eating Disorders at Home and in School: Lessons That Save Lives; a feature article by Abigail H. Natenshon
• The American School Board Journal; "Food Fright"; February, 1996