About
Alexis Conason PSY.D.
Therapist
Dr. Alexis Conason (she/her/hers) is a licensed psychologist in private practice in New York City. Her office is conveniently located on the border between the Upper East Side and Midtown East neighborhoods of Manhattan. She specializes in the treatment of overeating disorders, body image, and psychological issues related to bariatric surgery. She also treats people struggling with sexual functioning, depression, anxiety, adjustment problems, relationship issues, and other psychological issues. Please contact her to see if she can help you with what you are struggling with.
Directions to Dr. Conason’s office on East 57th Street
Author
Dr. Conason is the author of The Diet-Free Revolution: 10 Steps to Free Yourself from the Diet Cycle with Mindful Eating and Radical Self-Acceptance (published in 2021 by North Atlantic Books and distributed by Penguin Random House). Forward Reviews called the book “packed with keen psychological and scientific insights” and Christy Harrison, author of Anti-Diet, said “Alexis Conason offers a truly weight inclusive approach to mindful eating that will help you develop self-compassion, practice self-care, and find pleasure in food and your body.” In addition to her book, Dr. Conason’s essays on diet culture have been published in Elle Magazine, Scary Mommy, and Darling Magazine. She writes the “Eating Mindfully” blog for Psychology Today and contributes to her personal blog on this website.
Researcher
From 2007-2018, Dr. Conason maintained a research position at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital (formerly St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital), in affiliation with Columbia University. Her research focused on psychological outcomes following bariatric weight loss surgery (WLS). Her groundbreaking dissertation research on substance use following WLS was one of the first studies to document an increased risk of alcohol use following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery; now a widely-recognized phenomenon. Her research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery and has been cited hundreds of times in peer reviewed articles. She has also published on sexual functioning following bariatric surgery and the increased risk of suicide and self-injury following WLS.
While she no longer maintains an institutional research affiliation, Dr. Conason stays current with new research findings in the fields of bariatric surgery and eating disorders. She regularly attends and presents at research conferences and serves as a peer reviewer for bariatric surgery medical journals. She serves as the Research Liaison for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals New York Chapter (IAEDPNY) and is a board member of The Center for Mindful Eating (TCME).
Training and Experience
After earning her doctoral degree from Long Island University’s Post Campus and completing internship at The Karen Horney Clinic, Dr. Conason completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in affiliation with Columbia University. Part of this training included working closely with the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital as part of the treatment team conducting pre-operative psychological evaluations, treatment plans, and leading their support groups.
Dr. Conason did additional post-doctoral training to earn a certificate in eating disorders, addictions, and compulsions from the William Alanson White Institute and a certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from the American Institute of Psychoanalysis. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and certified eating disorder specialist supervisor (CEDS-S). Dr. Conason is trained in Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Therapy (MB-EAT), an empirically validated treatment for binge-eating and other overeating disorders and has participated in other mindfulness workshops and trainings. She is currently undertaking training to specialize in sex therapy. Dr. Conason is licensed to practice psychology by New York State.
Alexis Conason PSY.D.
Directions to Dr. Conason’s office on East 57th StreetAfter earning her doctoral degree from Long Island University’s Post Campus and completing internship at The Karen Horney Clinic, Dr. Conason completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in affiliation with Columbia University. Part of this training included working closely with the Center for Bariatric Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital as part of the treatment team conducting pre-operative psychological evaluations, treatment plans, and leading their support groups.
Dr. Conason did additional post-doctoral training to earn a certificate in eating disorders, addictions, and compulsions from the William Alanson White Institute and a certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from the American Institute of Psychoanalysis. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and certified eating disorder specialist supervisor (CEDS-S). Dr. Conason is trained in Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Therapy (MB-EAT), an empirically validated treatment for binge-eating and other overeating disorders and has participated in other mindfulness workshops and trainings. She is currently undertaking training to specialize in sex therapy. Dr. Conason is licensed to practice psychology by New York State.