Orange County Eating Disorder Therapy
Reconnect with yourself beyond the eating disorder.
Individualized outpatient psychotherapy for eating disorders, disordered eating, body image, and the transition from higher levels of care.
- 3+
- Years in eating-disorder care
- LMFT
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California #164848
- Telehealth
- Across California
- Specialized eating-disorder care
- Adolescents & adults
- Telehealth across California
- Private pay · superbills available
Why this work matters
Eating disorders can create distance between a person and their own thoughts, body, values, relationships, and sense of identity.
Over time it can become difficult to tell which thoughts belong to the disorder and which belong to the person underneath it. Zehn was created to help clients begin reconnecting with that person — through care that is honest, collaborative, and individualized, rather than built around moving everyone through the same script.
What we help with
Specialized support across eating-disorder presentations.
Each area has its own page describing what the experience can be like, how therapy may help, and when outpatient care may not be enough.
- AnorexiaRestriction of intake leading to significantly low body weight, with intense fear of weight gain and disturbance in how weight or shape is experienced.
- BulimiaRecurrent binge eating with recurrent compensatory behavior — vomiting, laxative misuse, fasting, or excessive exercise — and self-evaluation unduly influenced by shape and weight.
- Binge EatingRecurrent binge eating with marked distress, occurring without the regular compensatory behavior that defines bulimia nervosa.
- ARFIDRestriction driven by sensory experience, fear, or low interest in eating — not body image.
- OSFEDPresentations causing clinically significant distress that do not meet full criteria for another feeding or eating disorder — including atypical anorexia nervosa and purging disorder.
- Body Image & Disordered EatingFor monitoring, rules, and compulsive exercise that never got a diagnosis but cost you anyway.
- After Higher Levels of CareFor the period after residential, PHP, or IOP, when the structure falls away all at once.
Why this practice
Specialized support that understands the complexity of recovery.
Eating disorders are the center of this practice, and the clinician has worked with them at every level of care, from residential and partial hospitalization through intensive outpatient to outpatient.
Care is precise rather than general. Each condition is described in the terms a diagnosis actually uses, so you can recognize yourself in it — and treatment is built for the person in front of her, not run from a fixed protocol.
Meet the clinician
Abir Ayesh, LMFT
Founder & Clinical Director · License #164848
Her clinical experience spans every level of eating-disorder treatment, from residential and partial hospitalization programs to intensive outpatient and outpatient care.
Her approach is grounded in integrity, collaboration, and individualized treatment. She believes client-centered care means meeting people where they are while also being willing to speak honestly when something is not working, or when a different level of support is needed.
How therapy works
Customized care, not a fixed program agenda.
Treatment is individualized. The clinician draws on cognitive behavioral, dialectical behavior, acceptance and commitment, family-based, narrative, and humanistic approaches, selecting among them according to what fits the person in front of her rather than applying a fixed model.
Eating-disorder treatment frequently involves more than one provider. When clinically appropriate and authorized under a signed release, the clinician coordinates with dietitians, physicians, psychiatrists, and treatment programs, and with family members where their involvement is part of the treatment plan.
Outpatient therapy is not appropriate for every person at every stage of an eating disorder. The clinician may recommend additional medical or nutritional support, or a higher level of care, when that is what the situation calls for. Referral options are offered without any guarantee of availability.
Who Zehn supports
Adolescents, adults, and the people around them.
Adults
Individual psychotherapy for adults navigating eating disorders, disordered eating, and body-image concerns.
Adolescents
Developmentally attuned care for teenagers, with parents involved deliberately and with clear expectations.
Parents & families
Parent-only consultations and family support, when clinically appropriate and authorized.
After intensive treatment
Continuity for the period after residential, PHP, or IOP care, including relapse-prevention planning.
Getting started
Three steps, and no pressure at any of them.
Request a consultation
Send a short message through the contact form, including a few days and times that would work for a phone call. The clinician responds within one business day.
Consultation — free, 15 minutes by phone
A brief call to understand what you are looking for, answer practical questions, and work out whether this practice is an appropriate fit.
Initial assessment and intake — 90 minutes
Before this appointment you complete intake documents, telehealth and financial agreements, privacy information, a Good Faith Estimate, and a payment method — all through the secure portal, never through this website.
You do not need to meet a diagnostic threshold, or be certain that something is wrong, to ask. Working out whether this is the right kind of help is part of what the consultation is for — and if it is not, you will be told so directly and given other options.
Fees
Clear costs, stated up front.
Zehn is private pay at launch. Full fees, cancellation policy, and superbill information are on the Fees page.
- Initial phone consultation15 minutes
- Complimentary
- Initial assessment90 minutes
- $300
- Individual psychotherapy50 minutes
- $225
Common questions
Before you reach out.
How do I get started?
Send a short message through the contact form. The clinician responds within one business day to arrange a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation. That call is used to understand what you are looking for and whether the practice is an appropriate fit — there is no obligation to continue.
Do you take insurance?
Zehn is private pay at launch and is not contracted with insurance plans. Superbills are available on request for clients who wish to seek possible out-of-network reimbursement. Reimbursement is determined by your plan and is not guaranteed.
Where do sessions take place?
The practice is positioned in Orange County and has no public office location.
Zehn is telehealth-first. At the start of every session the clinician confirms your full name and your present physical location. California licensure does not authorize care when a client is physically located in another jurisdiction, and outpatient telehealth must also remain clinically appropriate for your presentation — both are reassessed each session rather than assumed.
Do you only work with eating disorders?
Eating disorders are the practice's primary specialty at launch, including disordered eating, body-image concerns, and recovery or relapse-prevention needs. Co-occurring difficulties may be addressed when they are within the clinician's competence and within outpatient scope.
Reconnect with yourself beyond the eating disorder.
If you are considering therapy, a short conversation is a reasonable place to begin.
Zehn is telehealth-first. At the start of every session the clinician confirms your full name and your present physical location. California licensure does not authorize care when a client is physically located in another jurisdiction, and outpatient telehealth must also remain clinically appropriate for your presentation — both are reassessed each session rather than assumed.