Maria Sorbara Mora
Maria developed integrated eating™ as an evolved program for individuals in eating disorder recovery.
Maria Sorbara Mora, MS, R.D., CEDRD, C-IAYT, is the Founder of Integrated Eating Dietetics-Nutrition PLLC.
Maria is the Founder and Executive Director of Integrated Eating Dietetics-Nutrition PLLC. Maria’s practice includes nutrition guidance and therapy, meal support and yoga therapy, yoga therapy groups, clinical supervision, and professional trainings. The Co-Founder of the former Aurora Behavioral Health Center in NYC, she served as its Director of Nutrition and Yoga Therapy for 3 years. Maria strongly believes in the holistic model for recovery, allowing for change and transformation.
She has treated individuals with eating disorders for over 15 years and began instituting yoga therapy into her practice with eating disorder clients in 2010. As the founder of Integrated Eating, PLLC (formally Body Connection), she maintains a private practice in which the premise is to integrate body, mind, and soul into the traditional treatment modality for those struggling with eating and body issues, addictions, and trauma.
Among Maria's certifications as a Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist, in 2014 she was recognized for her specialty and expertise in the treatment of eating disorders by IAEDP (International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals) and given the credentials CEDRD (Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian). In addition to these certifications in the field of nutrition and dietetics, Maria also holds certifications in the field of yoga therapy.
She is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and recognized for her expertise in yoga therapy by the International Association of Yoga Therapy (IAYT) and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy (PRYT) as well as a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher. Maria holds memberships in the professional associations of AND (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), IAEDP, IAYT and YA (Yoga Alliance). Maria has developed Integrated EatingTM, a unique approach to the treatment of eating disorders, which combines and elevates the concepts of mechanical, mindful, and intuitive eating. Integrated EatingTM enables an individual to establish a level of mastery around creating a healthy relationship with their food, mind, and body by guiding them through a step-by-step process to truly recover and heal from disordered eating.
Maria holds a Masters of Science in both Nutrition Education and Applied Physiology from Teachers College (TC), Columbia University. As a part of her AP4 internship at TC, she conducted research at the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke’s Hospital and co-authored, “Body Image Disturbance in Obese Outpatients Before and After Weight Loss in Relation to Race, Gender, Binge Eating and Age Onset of Obesity,” which was published in The International Journal of Eating Disorders in 2002.
Since then she has written for the International Journal of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and for Making Connections, The National Eating Disorders Association Publication. She has also written a chapter for Carolyn Costin’s new book on yoga and eating disorders, which is due out in 2016. In addition to her passion for writing on the topic of yoga in the treatment of eating disorders, Maria has presented internationally in Austria at the IAED Conference, nationally including AED (Academy of Eating Disorders) in Colorado, IAYT (International Association for Yoga Therapists) Symposium in Texas, and The Phoenix Rising Conference for Practitioners in Vermont, as well as locally for IAEDP NY chapter and EDTNY Monte Nido.
Maria’s extensive experience in eating disorders spans across the spectrum, including anorexia, bulimia, variations of binge eating (BED, compulsive and emotional eating), orthorexia, body image distortion, and compulsive exercise disorder. She has worked with athletes with eating disorders, including the Columbia University wrestling team and women’s cross country team.
Prior to her directorship at Aurora Behavioral Health and her full-time private practice, she has been an integral part of multi-disciplinary eating disorder teams at The Program for Managing Eating Disorders (ProMED), Columbia University Health Services and Barnard Health Center. Serving on the staff of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy School as a mentor, she has also helped develop yoga therapy programs.
During her years as a private practitioner and clinician, she has supervised interns as a preceptor for nutrition as well as psychotherapy students interested in specializing in yoga and eating disorders. She is currently working on several writing projects, including a book and workbook on Integrated EatingTM, as well as a book on using spiritual concepts in eating disorder recovery. Her passion to guide individuals along the path of recovery is only trumped by the moments of inspiration given to her by those she is honored to treat. Her life mission is to support individuals in recovery to awaken to the truest of all teachers…themselves.