About Us
White Pine Center for Healing is the Erie-area’s only center supporting individuals experiencing or recovering from eating disorders, body image issues, weight stigma, and trauma. We promote healing, recovery, and prevention and guide individuals through their recovery journey.
Our evidence-based treatments offer a holistic approach to individual growth and personal healing in a secure and comfortable environment. Our welcoming and private space allows individuals to create a path to recovery through our results-driven programs. Individuals learn to build a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body, heal emotionally, and address body image and self-esteem.
The Native American symbol for wisdom and growth is White Pine; this symbol is where we gather our name. With these programs, individuals and the community gain wisdom through education and prevention. This wisdom allows them to grow on their healing journey.
Who We Are
We understand that eating disorders are sometimes an attempt to solve an underlying problem, which is why our prevention and treatment programs are designed to target the source of disordered eating. This is also why we are so passionate about our educational outreach programs for parents, coworkers, coaches, and the community to spread awareness about eating disorders. Our outreach provides them the tools to help prevent an eating disorder before it begins by understanding how their words and actions can have a long-lasting effect on those they interact with regularly.
Our healing center provides appropriate prevention and treatment options for you or your loved ones. Treatments include classes, support groups, individual therapy, clinical assessments, referrals, and evidence-based programs like Intuitive eating, Heartmath Biofeedback, The Body Project, and Love Your Tree.
Who We Serve
Our treatment programs are designed for individuals suffering from eating disorders and their friends and family. The programs are open to all ages, races, and genders. We also serve as a critical resource for major treatment facilities in the tri-state area (Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Cleveland) and the patient home in the Erie area. We collaborate with the Erie Family Center and act as an extension to their mission: to support families through prevention, education, and intervention.
More than 30 million people in the US suffer from eating disorders at some point. 40-60% of girls ages 6-12 are concerned about their weight and body image. 25-40% of eating disorder sufferers are males who are less likely to get help. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental health issues, after opioid abuse (Source: National Eating Disorders Association). The best way to combat these numbers is by providing compassionate, result-based treatment and prevention educational programs.
We believe that awareness is essential for preventing eating disorders; this is why we are committed to educating the entire Erie County community. We work with school administrators and staff, coaches, parents, business owners, and healthcare professionals to offer educational programs focusing on prevention.
Why We Do It
In NW PA there is a significant lack of qualified and trained clinicians to support individuals with disordered eating. In many cases, healthcare professionals don’t always know what signs to look for or how to ask patients about eating disorders.
We have created an environment that is warm, inviting, and safe for individuals to go through their healing journey. We love being a part of their recovery and witnessing the change in people. Individuals come to us suffering, uncertain, and broken and transform through the recovery process to an empowered, more confident, and healthy person.
It is rewarding to watch the growth and see the positive changes we are making in their lives. Our educational programs provide the community with symptoms of an eating disorder and a toolkit for what to do. This is so important because it teaches people how easily their words and actions affect others and how devastating that can be. We educate to prevent eating disorders in future generations and inform people what to look for in their loved ones.
