Melissa Freizinger, PhD

Dr. Freizinger has a 20-year background in clinical psychology with special expertise the treatment of eating disorders. She is currently the Associate Director of the Eating Disorder Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she provides consultation, evaluation, and/or behavioral therapy to children, adolescents and young adults. She specializes in Family Based Treatment and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Dr. Freizinger has also been involved in program development at three Boston-based eating-disorder treatment centers. She is a nationally known speaker and trainer in the areas of eating disorders, family-based treatment, and dialectical behavioral therapy approaches to individuals with eating disorders.
Her interest in eating disorders developed while working as a researcher and group clinician with women experiencing infertility at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It became evident to her that in order to work with women, she needed to understand eating disorders …both clinically and emotionally from the patient’s experience. She began working at an eating disorder inpatient unit. Her work with women experiencing infertility and my interest in eating disorders resulted in my dissertation research, “The Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Infertile Women." Dr. Freizinger's work was published and has contributed to the knowledge in both the reproductive endocrinology and eating disorder fields.