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Emily Ciepcielinski, PhD, LPCS, CEDS

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Charlotte, NC
Emily Ciepcielinski, PhD, LPCS, CEDS

Eating Disorders & Anxiety Specialist Providing counseling and counselor supervision services in the Charlotte, NC area.

Areas of clinical specialty include: eating disorders and the full range of disordered eating (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, chronic dieting, etc.), body image struggles, self-compassion and self-identity work, anxiety and depressive disorders, and general women’s wellness and stress management issues.

12/31/2025

🎉And that’s a wrap! What a year- these are the top 9 posts from 2025…we talked a lot about healing our nervous systems using a polyvagal, window-of-tolerance, and somatic parts-informed framework, we talked about the many parts of us in general (and what they’re trying to communicate), and we talked about what true healing from disordered eating and/or anxiety can look like…

Grateful for this community! And for all of you trying your best to show up each day, heal and grow a little more, and to be a light in your communities and families. ✨ We need you now more than ever!

Happy 2026!!

12/29/2025

I really love this time of year- the week between Christmas and New Year’s- where the world seems to slow down a bit, get a little more quiet… at least that’s what we try to do in my family, as the 5 of us head to the beach for some down time… the holiday hustle and bustle behind us.

I always try to find some time to reflect on the past year, and these questions are the ones on my mind right now. Less about setting a million different new goals and more about remembering what’s important and a chance to re-center. ❤️

Wishing you all a wonderful 2026 ✨✨

(I might be popping on here off and on, but I’m truly trying to unplug until school/work starts back up… see you then! I’m excited about some new ideas and projects for the new year- can’t wait to share 🤗)

12/18/2025

This graphic shows why exposures often “fail”, or why when we’re working really hard to overcome something, it can still feel like we’re stuck. I would venture to say that at some point in the process, you’re “escaping or avoiding”… it could even be a subtle thing you do that helps you bypass some uncomfortable emotion. But true healing will come when we stay with the emotion until its completion, finding ways to support us as we do. 🤍

Where do you get stuck in this cycle, or what specific ways do you escape or avoid? 👇🏼

12/16/2025

“Living in your head” is often a nervous system strategy we learn early on to survive and cope more effectively.
Thinking (and by this I’m referring to over-thinking/ruminating/obsessing…basically relying on your thinking mind so much you’re disconnected from the body) can create distance, control, and predictability when the body doesn’t feel safe.

Here’s just some of the ways we first learn how to disconnect and live from the “neck up”. Which ones ring true for you? 👇🏼

12/10/2025

The holidays can feel loud- full of expectations, pressure, comparison, and a pace that doesn’t always match what our bodies or hearts really want or need…

Which question landed with you most today?👇🏼

✨ Save this for the moments when everything starts to feel “too much.”

12/05/2025

🥗🌮Learning to eat intuitively or in an attuned manner with your body isn’t about perfection - it’s about reconnecting with your body’s signals as best you can and learning how to support yourself better while eating.

📣I created this Somatically-Informed Hunger/Fullness Scale to help clients (and clinicians!) tune into the subtle shifts in hunger/fullness, nervous system states, and emotions, as well as to provide some simple guidance depending on the various levels of hunger/fullness.

📌Important reminders:

  ✅All cues are invitations, not rules.
  Neurodivergence, chronic illness, trauma, or long-term restriction may blunt or distort signals- this is normal.

  ✅Using this scale is about rebuilding interoceptive awareness, not “eating perfectly.”

  ✅If cues are confusing, begin with   structured eating (consistent meals/snacks) while tracking somatic sensations over time.

  ✅Your body’s signals will strengthen with repeated safety, nourishment, and attunement.

🙋‍♀️If you’d like a simple, printable version for you or your clients, DM me “SOMATIC HUNGER SCALE” and I’ll send it your way.

12/03/2025

Paradox is that space where seemingly opposite truths coexist - not canceling each other out, but expanding our capacity for a “bigger picture” in our lives. We don’t have to choose between the “opposites”; we can hold both.

When we allow paradox, we soften perfectionism, ease black-and-white thinking, and create room for compassion - for ourselves and for others.❤️

What’s a paradox you’re embracing this season (or need to embrace)??👇🏼

12/02/2025

🤔Ever wonder why you fall right back into codependent patterns and cycles, seemingly on autopilot? It’s not a personality flaw - it’s your nervous system doing its best to keep you safe. It’s learned attachment patterns and emotion regulation patterning we pick up early on and carry with us into adulthood.

When we map codependence through the lens of the Window of Tolerance model, we can see how different states shape our reactions:
🔥 Hyperarousal can pull us into fixing, pleasing, rescuing.
🌿 When we’re in our Window of Tolerance, we can show up in relationships with clarity, boundaries, and mutuality.
🫥 Hypoarousal can cause us to collapse into “self-erasing”, giving in, or numbing out to avoid conflict.

These patterns were NOT chosen -they were learned in relationship and reinforced by our earliest experiences of safety, belonging, and connection.

But we CAN choose to understand the nervous system states beneath the behaviors better and offer our systems what they truly need: grounding, co-regulation, boundaries, an embodied/felt sense of safety, and plenty of support. (So that we widen our window of tolerance and flexibly/appropriately move among states.)

➡️What symptom, emotion, expression or core driver is most familiar to you?? 👇🏼

11/25/2025

🍗🦃Thanksgiving can stir up a lot when you’re navigating food and body image recovery. If this week feels tender, you’re not alone. These 7 reminders are here to help you stay connected to your values, your body, and your recovery—so you can move through the holiday with more compassion, permission, and support.

Swipe through, take what you need, save this post for later, or pass along to a friend.🤍

11/20/2025

➡️When we struggle with body image, it’s rarely just about the body. It’s about messages and experiences we internalized early on that left us feeling like we needed to “use” the body to cope. In response to painful experiences and emotions related to our bodies and looks (or just a lot of focus or pressure on them), we develop “parts” inside of us that protect us from the pain. Enter the body critic, the “looks perfectionist”, the constant comparison-maker, the self objectifier, the health/fitness fanatic, etc.

➡️These parts step in because we’re terrified of being unloved, rejected, or “not enough” when it comes to our bodies or appearance. These parts attempt to numb us from this pain or prevent it all cost.

➡️And beneath them? Those parts holding the old, unprocessed pain - memories of being teased or bullied, times where others equated worth with appearance, or feelings of powerlessness when it comes to our bodies…

➡️Healing begins when we stop judging our parts and start listening. When we offer compassion to the protectors and safety/healing/needs-being-met to the exiles, the whole system shifts. 🤍

What would you add to the graphic above?👇🏼

11/18/2025

🗣️Sometimes the hardest part of communicating our needs isn’t the words… it’s what’s happening inside while we’re trying to say them. (And then subsequently losing our words! 🫠)

DEAR MAN is a classic DBT skill — but when we layer in somatic awareness + parts work, something shifts. We’re not just stating needs… we’re also leading from Self while tending to the parts that fear conflict, rejection, or being “too much.”

In this version, you pause to notice:
✨ Which parts are here?
✨ How does my body feel right now?
✨ Can I let Self lead with clarity and compassion?
✨Can I stay in communication and find a flexible solution without abandoning myself or my parts?

This is how communication becomes embodied, grounded, and actually effective.
It’s how we honor our needs without abandoning our selves and our many parts.

If this resonates, save this post for the next time you’re moving through a difficult conversation. And with the holidays approaching, it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later! 😉 ❤️

11/13/2025

📢They say this is about toddler/young kids “playing” with skin care… But let’s be clear, not all “play” is created equally, nor does all play serve or empower our children...

👉🏻As a body image and eating disorder specialist, I get concerned when products marketed to toddlers start nudging kids toward self-consciousness instead of a positive connection with their bodies and inner sense of self.

👉🏻Ideally, play is “embodied” - rooted in the present moment, fostering a strong mind/body connection, focused on the process, not the outcome. Not performative or focused on what others think. Not so appearance-based. Not an early invitation to overly focus on how they look.

👉🏻Healthy play, ideally, is also intrinsically motivated. And when we encourage our kids to listen in to what naturally brings them pleasure and joy, we help create a stronger sense of self, or identity, for them. We honor their own “inner knowing”.

Embodiment, and a low self-conscious/self-critical nature, along with a strong identity can be powerful buffers against poor body image and disordered eating. Let’s protect that. 💜

Address

6135 Park South Drive Suite 130
Charlotte, NC
28210

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm

Website

http://www.ciepcounseling.com/

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