Kai Iguchi

About Kai

I am a non-binary Japanese neurodivergent dietitian with 10+ years of experience working with the eating disorder (EDo) population. I originally studied Marine Biology for the love of dolphins, but I am a “dolphin that can’t swim”. During a research trip to Honduras, I realized that you need to be able to swim well to study dolphins... Duh. During that time, I was getting my toes wet on my own EDo recovery. To my surprise, I ended up loving the dietitian I had first refused to see! Seeing her enjoy food with such ease and joy was quite a sight at first. It became a sight of hope and inspired me to become a dietitian focusing on the EDo prevention & recovery. Along the way, I also became passionate about some other populations. My specialities are:1) Eating Disorder, Disordered Eating, Chronic/Yo-Yo Dieting, 2)Prevention of Relative Energy Deficiency in Dance/Sports, 3)Recreational, Professional, Pre-Professional Dancers/Performing Artists, 4)LGBTQ+ & Neurodivergent & 5)日本語で栄養サポートが必要な方

Approach to care

To learn more about my approach, please visit https://recoverycomesinwaves.my.canva.site/website. To name a few, 1)Autonomy & Value-Oriented, 2)Health at Every Size ®, Weight-Neutral & Fat Positive, 3)All Foods Fit & Anti-Diet, 4)Eclectic use of multiple modalities (e.g., ACT, CBT, DBT, RO-DBT, etc.)Challenging the status quo & the prescriptive approach to "treatment." If you struggle with "learned helplessness", I may not be a good fit unless actively working on it with a therapist. Lastly, being "anti-diet" does not mean I reject folks who want to lose weight/engage in dieting. I will never prescribe weight loss; instead, our work may entail exploring the why behind the desire, rather than focusing on the number on the scale. Or, we may explore a harm reduction approach to combat gatekeeping that you may be facing (e.g., access to medical procedures).

Your first session with Kai

We'll get to know each other and identify what you're looking to get out of our work. We may start to talk about what “recovery”, “normal eating”, “healthy eating”, “good dancer”, etc., mean to you. I will never single-handedly decide what those things mean or what behaviors you engage in are “disordered behavior/problem” for you. Rather, I’ll ask exploratory questions on how certain behaviors may or may not be getting you closer to your values or goals. My communication style is straightforward and “I say what I mean, I mean what I say” because I value authenticity, honesty & transparency. That being said, if you prefer a milder communication style, do let me know, and I’ll do my best to adjust so we can build a secure rapport. Also, tell me about who you are outside of your diagnosis/label! I’ll be asking hard questions as we work together, so having a strong rapport is very important to me. Getting to know each other will help with that. And feel free to ask me questions, too.

Education

- Board Certified Sports Dietitian (CSSD) - MSc: Eating Disorders and Clinical Nutrition - MS: Dietetics - Eating Disorder field since 2015 - Lived experiences

Hobbies

Dolphins, Narwhals, Ballet, Piano, Violin, Symphony, Cross-Stitching, Crocheting, Jigsaw Puzzles, LEGOs, and Jellycat Amusable Food Collection

Licenses and Certifications