Kelli believes that improving eating disorder education and making it accessible to more clinicians is the key to improving access to treatment as well as improving the quality of treatment that is available. As one of a handful of black psychologists who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, she is keenly aware of not only the need for competent and qualified clinicians but also the need for providers from marginalized communities to join the larger community of eating disorder professionals.

Kelli is excited about Project HEAL because of its commitment to breaking down the barriers that exist in our healthcare system that make access to eating disorder treatment an impossibility to those most vulnerable to experiencing one.

Kelli grew up in a close-knit black community with deep religious ties where she witnessed first-hand the painful consequences of suffering with untreated eating disorders and negative body image. Most struggled because of the misrepresentation of who can develop an eating disorder as well as an intense bias against those who seek mental health treatment. These experiences sparked Kelli’s desire to become a psychologist and specialize in eating disorders in an effort to reach those who have largely been left out of the eating disorder space.

Kelli is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS)  and received her doctorate in health psychology (Psy.D.) from Loma Linda University. She has had the unique experience of working with the full spectrum of eating disorders from young children in intensive feeding clinics with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) to teenagers and adults struggling with Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. She had the honor of developing the first Family-Based Treatment oriented medical stabilization program and outpatient eating disorder clinic at UCLA before opening her private practice, Flourish Psychology, that specializes in womxn’s mental health.

Kelli’s favorite ice flavor is Ben & Jerry’s “Gimme S’moree”.

Pronouns: She/Her