Meet Edie Stark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edie Stark.

Edie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I realized at around age 12, that my passion was to help others. Obviously, at that age, you’re somewhat limited in what you can do and your impact. I didn’t let that stop me and continued to pursue ways to follow my goals.

Flash forward to now; a bachelors degree and two masters degrees later, I finally feel like I kind of have it figured out. I currently have a private practice in both California state and New York state. I work with men and women struggling with a variety of issues. My specialty is helping those surviving, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and body image issues, to heal. It has been a long and winding journey to get to the place I am now.

In addition to my private practice, I also have a presence on social media where I work to take down the harmful and misguided ideas around diet culture. I also co-host a podcast called: Breaking Down with another therapist. The mission of the podcast is to break down different subjects and stories, ranging from perfection to addiction to friendships.

Has it been a smooth road?
Hard no to the smooth road haha. It has been a freaking journey to get to where I am now. The struggles have been plenty.

They really don’t teach you and graduate school how difficult it can be to make it on your own in private practice. Throw in moving across the country to a new state where I had to get a new license to work and you can hop right on to my struggle bus.

When I arrived in San Diego in the fall of 2016, I had no idea what laid in store for me. It took me nine months to acquire my California clinical social work license. During that time, I also was struggling personally since I didn’t have any sort of community out here. I was constantly homesick for New York City for my friends and for my career that I left behind.

I felt totally lost during those nine months like I had lost a part of my identity. When I FINALLY got my license and was able to start working, I was both relieved and overwhelmed.

Building my practice from scratch was one of the most difficult things I have done. San Diego was/is a totally different beast from NYC. It was slow and staggering to build up my client base and network. I battled a lot of self-doubt and fear that I would never be able to get my career back to the way it was in NY.

Luckily, I met some really rad (I’m even talking like a west coaster now haha) people that were the biggest supporter for me to keep going; It was so helpful to have a little group of friends that weren’t 3000 miles away. A lot of them happened to be therapists too, so we really could bond over the intensity of starting a practice.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am the founder/owner of Edie Stark Therapy, a mental health service. I specialize in treating men and women with eating disorders, and associated issues. I sub-specialize in college age and emerging adults (age 18-26) working on life transitions.

I have postgraduate training in, EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing), Mindfulness, and Intuitive Eating. I am a trauma-informed clinician, meaning I practice through the lens that most behavioral/symptoms are a coping skill acquired from experiencing trauma.

I am also a Reiki Master, which I use often with my clients during their treatment. Reiki healing is a practice to promote the movement of stuck energy in our bodies. Reiki uses universal energy to encourage emotional and physical healing.

I also provided training and workshops to school and corporations. The workshops range from stress management and mindfulness to body image and preventative care for eating disorders.

I am passionate about dismantling diet culture and bring that into my work both with clients and on social media.

I tell my clients: I am a human first, therapist second. I make mistakes, I stumble over my words, and I am not a blank slate in sessions, I work from a relational therapeutic approach. I find this not only builds rapport with my clients but helps to equalize any power struggles. I will never tell a client I know more than them, they are the expert on their own experience, not me. Therapy is a team effort, I cannot heal anyone, but I can help to guide them towards a life worth living.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Honestly, 2.5 years later and I finally feel grounded here. The transition here was really hard and long for me. I was in total culture shock, and really missed the hustle and bustle of NYC.

Now, I love being able to hop in my car and drive 10 minutes to a gorgeous beach pretty much any day of the year. I love the fresh fruit and vegetables available all year round. I find joy in discovering new restaurants, that dont need reservations three weeks out and that I can usually wear jeans and a t-shirt to them. The relaxed atmosphere took a while to adjust to but I will never complain about being able to rock yoga pants every single day. I love how easy it is to get to and get through the airport here, and how dog-friendly everywhere is.

Things that still make me frustrated: lack of public transportation, traffic, and no good bagels ( fight me haha)

Contact Info:

• Address: 3344 4th ave San Diego, CA 92103
• Website: www.ediestark.com
• Phone: 6178418921
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @ediestarktherapy

                                Image Credit:
Full body picture and Black and White Photo taken by Leanne Bishara (@lebishphotography), Picture of me at the desk taken by Amy Baack (@infinite.embers)

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.