Meet The Team | Main Line Center For Eating Disorders

Meet Our Team

Co-Founders

Ellie, Kerri and Amy, Co-Founders of Main Line Center for Eating Disorders, met while working at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program. They were extensively involved in all levels of care including inpatient medical stabilization, intensive outpatient programing (IOP) and outpatient treatment. They also contributed significantly to program development, clinical research and publication. They have led multiple trainings for clinicians, caregivers and educators, been interviewed as clinical experts and have presented at the local, national and international level.

The Co-Founders bring their unified passion to Main Line Center for Eating Disorders - one of the only practices in the Greater Philadelphia area to have Certified Eating Disorder Specialists and Certified Family Based Treatment Providers with expertise in pediatric eating disorders.

Ellie Benner , Psy.D.

Certified Family-Based
Treatment Provider

ellie@mlced.com

Ellie Benner , Psy.D.

Dr. Ellie Benner, PsyD, MA is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified Family Based Treatment (FBT) provider, Co-Founder and Director of Outreach and Training at Mainline Center for Eating Disorders. Dr. Benner obtained her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Health Psychology and her Master of Arts in Psychology from La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Benner previously worked as a Clinical Research Psychologist at CHOP in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program, where she specialized in providing FBT to children and adolescents and supervision to medical, nutrition, and behavioral health trainees. She has worked with children, adolescents, and adults with eating-related concerns across the diagnostic spectrum. She is trained and experienced in evidence-based treatments for eating disorders and co-occurring concerns, including: FBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Dr. Benner formerly worked as a Research Psychologist at CHOP on a federally funded randomized control trial studying the effectiveness of FBT-alone compared to FBT + adjunctive treatments. She has presented locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally on identification, prevention, and treatment of pediatric eating disorders. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals. She has provided training for clinicians, schools, and treatment centers on preventing weight-based harm, combatting diet culture, and early recognition and rapid intervention for treating pediatric eating disorders.

Dr. Benner is an active member of the Academy for Eating Disorders and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Dr. Benner identifies as an anti-diet, anti-weight stigma, weight-inclusive provider. She is enthusiastic about empowering caregivers to support their loved one with an eating disorder while combating diet culture. She is goal-oriented, collaborative, and strongly believes in using treatments shown by research to be effective.

Outside of work, Dr. Benner enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters and dog, hiking, and shopping.

Kerri Heckert , MS ,
RD , CEDS - S

Certified Eating Disorder Specialist

kerri@mlced.com

Kerri Heckert , MS , RD , CEDS - S

Kerri is an anti-diet Registered Dietitian, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist-Approved Supervisor, Certified Exercise Physiologist and Co-Founder and Director of Nutrition at Main Line Center for Eating Disorders. She believes that all bodies are good bodies, there is no such thing as “bad foods” and that diet culture has no place at our tables. She has extensive clinical expertise in providing Medical Nutrition Therapy and nutrition counseling for children, teens and young adults with eating disorders, subclinical disordered eating, weight suppression and Relative Energy Deficit of Sport (RED-S). She evaluates each patient’s historical growth and developmental status when setting individualized goal weights and she supports clients and their families in working toward holistic recovery - a sound body and a peaceful, flexible mind free from disordered thoughts and behaviors. She prioritizes getting clients back to their activities, sports and lives as quickly as is safely possible. She also specializes in intuitive eating, responsive feeding, preventing/reversing “picky” eating and helping parents make mealtime more peaceful by removing the guilt, anxiety, stress and conflict around feeding their families.

Kerri previously worked at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program for over 10 years where she treated pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients in multidisciplinary inpatient and outpatient settings. Kerri currently serves as the Vice President of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals and is an active member of the Academy of Eating Disorders’ Medical Care Standards Committee. She is also a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine and a Registered Yoga Teacher. Kerri received her Master’s degree from Drexel University.

Kerri has presented locally, nationally and internationally on pediatric eating disorders and has been published in peer reviewed journals, pediatric nutrition textbooks and the Pediatric Nutrition Care Manual. She has provided multiple trainings for clinicians, schools, eating disorder centers and community groups on preventing weight-based harm, fighting diet culture, and early recognition and rapid intervention for treating pediatric and adolescent eating disorders. Kerri also provides approved supervision for Registered Dietitians and other clinicians looking to specialize in treating eating disorders.

Kerri loves to spend time with her husband, two daughters, deeply feeling Lab mix and two fluffy cats. You can usually find her chauffeuring to the cheer and gymnastics gyms or on the field coaching her kids’ soccer and lacrosse teams, but her heart is at the beach. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher and enjoys a wide array of joyful movement!

Amy Mack, LCSW

Certified Family-Based
Treatment Provider

amy@mlced.com

Amy Mack , LCSW

Amy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Clinical Director of Main Line Center for Eating Disorders. She is a trained family and group therapist, a Certified Family-Based Treatment provider, and has extensive experience supporting individuals and families through challenging times.

Amy earned her MSW from Widener University and has worked in diverse settings including community mental health, schools, college counseling, and substance use treatment. She spent nearly a decade at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she developed and directed the Intensive Outpatient Program in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program as well as provided outpatient therapy. In addition to eating disorders, Amy works with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, and family dynamic challenges, using evidence-based approaches such as CBT, DBT, and EXRP.

Amy regularly presents to schools, parents, and clinicians on eating disorder prevention, early detection, and treatment. Deeply influenced by her colleagues and co-founders, Ellie and Kerri, Amy embraces Health at Every Size, body diversity, and a firm anti-diet stance. Rooted in her social work training, she values each client’s personal story and the power of strong therapeutic relationships.

Outside of her clinical work, Amy enjoys sharing what she has learned with her husband and their three teenaged and young adult children.

Suzy Szafran, LCSW

Therapist

suzy@mlced.com

Suzy Szafran , LCSW

Suzy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who feels strongly about creating strong connections with her clients and their families in order to support them. Suzy is a trained family and group therapist and has been working with the Family Based Therapy Model for the past 12 years.

Suzy received her Masters in Social Work from Widener University and has practiced in a variety of settings: juvenile justice system, intensive outpatient program for eating disorders and outpatient Family Based Therapy for Eating Disorders. Suzy was the Program Director for The Intensive Outpatient Program at The Renfrew Center for 5 years prior to her work at CHOP. Suzy has spent the past 12 years at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia working in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program as an outpatient clinician providing FBT treatment. Suzy also supports clients struggling with anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and family dynamic challenges using a variety of treatment modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

When not at work, you can find Suzy spending time with her three children and cat, Cora and coaching her town’s competitive cheerleading teams. Suzy loves to travel, she loves taking cruises to new places each year!

Kimberly Hartzell, LCSW

Therapist

kim@mlced.com

Kimberly Hartzell, LCSW

Kimberly is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over ten years of experience working with children and families in both clinical and case management settings. Kimberly spent her early career working with at-risk youth and has since spent the majority of her clinical experience working in pediatric eating disorders. Kimberly specializes in Family Based Treatment, believing that families are essential to a child's recovery from an eating disorder. She is a weight-inclusive clinician who aims to support families in challenging diet culture and its impact on youth.

Kimberly received her Master's in Social Work from Temple University. Outside of her professional life, Kimberly enjoys spending time with her young toddler, dogs and husband.

Claudia Alarcon-Bello, LCSW

Therapist

claudia@mlced.com

Claudia Alarcon-Bello , LCSW

Claudia is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in the treatment of pediatric eating disorders. She previously worked in early intervention at The Center for Autism in Philadelphia and as a pediatric feeding specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Claudia obtained her Master’s of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 and began working as a therapist leading groups and facilitating family sessions in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient Program. She currently works as an outpatient therapist primarily treating eating disorders.

Claudia operates from an anti-diet, weight-inclusive perspective. Additionally, Claudia supports children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. She uses evidenced-based practices including: Family Based Treatment, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure and Response Prevention. Outside of work, Claudia enjoys spending time with her husband, her corgi, and her Pitty/Boxer.

Danika Hoffman, RD

Dietitian

danika@mlced.com

Danika Hoffman

Danika is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who received her bachelors degree from Penn State and her masters degree from Drexel University. She is a weight inclusive dietitian who believes diet culture harms all of us and functions only to distract us from what is truly important in our lives. Danika specializes in supporting children, teens, young adults and their families as they navigate re-nourishment from eating disorders, helping them re-learn how to feed their bodies and minds instead of feeding the disorder. Danika also works with athletes with Relative Energy Deficiency of Sport (RED-S), under-fueling, and disordered eating concerns to optimize performance and celebrate what their bodies can do instead of what they look like.

When she isn’t busy busting diet culture nutrition myths, Danika enjoys spending time with her family, her fiancé Ross, and her friends. She loves to read, take pictures of sunsets, walk, run, lift weights, yell at Philadelphia sports teams, and make homemade pasta sauce.

Brooke Singer, Psy.D

Licensed
Clinical Psychologis

brooke@mlced.com

Brooke Singer , Psy.D

Dr. Singer is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

She received her Psy.D. from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where she obtained extensive training in evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and integrative approaches. Dr. Singer has experience providing individual, group, and family-based therapeutic services to children, adolescents, and adults with diverse mental health and interpersonal challenges. She has worked in various clinical settings including foster care, community mental health, traditional outpatient, private practice, hospital, and family medicine sites.

Regarding specialized treatment experience, Dr. Singer has been trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and Family Based Treatment for eating disorders. She previously worked as a clinician on one of the largest randomized-control trials for adolescents with Anorexia at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia providing manualized FBT for over 2 years. She is currently a Clinical Psychologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia working with children, adolescents, and young adults with gastrointestinal conditions and challenges. Dr. Singer loves providing holistic and integrative care to the families she works with and identifies as an anti-diet, anti-weight stigma, and health-at-every-size provider.

Outside of work, she is a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan, loves to paint, and loves to go on walks with her 3-year-old Staffy mix Zero.

Pearl Kravets, M.A.

Sarah Rose Smiley

Meet Our Team

Meet Our Team

Co-Founders

Ellie Benner , Psy.D.

Kerri Heckert , MS , RD , CEDS - S

Amy Mack , LCSW

Associates

Suzy Szafran , LCSW

Kimberly Hartzell, LCSW

Claudia Alarcon-Bello , LCSW

Danika Hoffman

Brooke Singer , Psy.D

Trainees