meet vanessa huynh

bs, dtr

Recovery coach & diet tech

Vanessa Huynh (she/her) earned her Bachelor of Science in Food Nutrition and Dietetics from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2019. During her time in college, she interned at the Appleby Community Farm, where she educated children and families about farming, taught people how to plant and harvest crops, as well as led kitchen skills demonstrations.

Through Vanessa’s work at Center for Discovery (CFD) as a Diet Technician, she gained a passion for working with clients struggling with eating disorders. She had the opportunity to work at various levels of care including residential treatment, partial hospitalization treatment, and intensive outpatient treatment. During her time at CFD, she led meal and snack support groups, restaurant exposures, and nutrition groups, such as Nutrition in the News, Menu Planning, Intuitive Eating and Kitchen Skills.

Vanessa’s goal in meal support groups, workshops, and individual sessions is to provide a safe and nonjudgmental environment where clients feel free to explore their own values, feelings, and needs. Her empathetic approach to supporting clients is calm and reassuring. Vanessa enjoys meeting clients where they are in their recovery journey and immersing herself in their own exploration of what it means to have a healthy relationship with food. She is passionate about educating others and leading discussions in repairing and developing a positive relationship with food. Vanessa believes that the understanding and practice of intuitive eating is a pillar of wholehearted living.

Vanessa provides 1:1 meal support as well as provides sessions for menu planning. Her role is to support the client in achieving the goals established by the client’s treatment team whether that be specific meal plan completion, a specific food exposure, or helping with meal planning and grocery shopping.