For people struggling with eating disorders in Houston, with specialized care a few hours up the road.
Empowered Treatment is an adult eating disorder program in Austin offering partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient care, and transitional housing, about 165 miles from Houston.
A big city can still feel very lonely with this.
Houston is a place of long commutes, long hours, and a lot of people keeping a lot going at once. Eating disorders fit into that quietly. A skipped lunch disappears into a busy day, a workout becomes a rule, a late-night binge happens after everyone else is asleep. From the outside, life can look completely on track.
Eating disorders affect people of every size, background, culture, and age, including adults who have carried one for years without telling anyone. Whether you are a graduate student, a nurse coming off a night shift, a new parent, or someone who has simply been coping alone for a long time, what you are feeling deserves real care.
Struggling quietly is still struggling.
If meals, your body, or exercise have become something you plan around, negotiate with, or hide, it is worth talking to someone who specializes in this. You do not need a diagnosis, a referral, or a crisis to call.
We will listen to what has been going on and help you think through whether a more structured level of care makes sense, and what it would look like to do that from Houston.
Concern from a distance is still care.
Maybe you have noticed your adult child, partner, or sibling eating less, eating in secret, or seeming exhausted by food. Saying something can feel risky. Leading with what you have noticed, and with love rather than comments about their body, is a good place to begin. Our page on how to help someone with an eating disorder goes further.
If your loved one comes to Austin for treatment, Houston is close enough for regular visits. Our family education helps you understand what recovery asks of everyone, not only the person in treatment.
A place to stay between treatment days.
Driving from Houston to Austin every day is not realistic during partial hospitalization. Our transitional housing in Austin’s Hyde Park neighborhood gives you a supportive home base while you attend PHP or IOP, so the hours outside of programming are not spent on the highway or alone in a hotel.
Shared living spaces
A room of your ownCare built around the whole picture.
Your treatment team includes eating disorder therapists, registered dietitians, a family therapist, and psychiatric providers who work together every week. Many people we treat are also living with anxiety, depression, trauma, or other co-occurring concerns, and those are treated alongside the eating disorder rather than one at a time.
Partial hospitalization (PHP)
Full treatment days at our Austin center: supported meals, daily groups, individual therapy, dietitian care, and medical and psychiatric monitoring.
About PHP →Intensive outpatient (IOP)
Group programming plus weekly individual and dietitian sessions, built to fit around work, school, and family once more structure is not needed.
About IOP →
“When someone comes to us from Houston, a lot of the early work is helping them feel settled, so their energy can go into treatment instead of logistics. Having a steady place to come home to each evening can make the rest of the day feel more possible.”Maryam Mahmoud, LCSW, LCDCClinical Director of Transitional Services, Empowered Treatment
The drive, the details, and the cost.
Getting to Austin from Houston
Our center is on Spicewood Springs Road in Northwest Austin.
- By car: about 165 miles, roughly 2.5 to 3 hours depending on traffic and route
- Visits home: close enough for family to visit on weekends, which many people find helpful during treatment
- By air: flights from Houston arrive at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), roughly a 30-minute drive from our center
- Staying in Austin: ask about our transitional housing when you call
Insurance and paying for care
We can check your benefits before you make any decisions, including how your plan covers partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient care, and out-of-network services.
- Verify your insurance online, or call and we will walk through it with you
- Housing is arranged alongside your program; cost and availability depend on your situation, so ask us directly
- The Texas Department of Insurance offers free help with health plan questions, denied claims, and appeals
- Read does insurance cover eating disorder treatment?
Support back home in Houston.
Recovery keeps going after programming ends. These resources in Houston and across Texas can help keep support in place when you return home, alongside the aftercare plan we build with you.
- The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDDHarris County’s local mental health authority, with crisis services and a range of community mental health programs.
- Mental Health America of Greater HoustonEducation, advocacy, and mental health resources for people and families across the Houston region.
- Texas Health and Human Services: Mental Health and Substance UseState mental health services and a search for behavioral health providers in your area.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis LifelineCall or text 988, any time, from anywhere in the United States. In an emergency, call 911.
Questions people in Houston often ask.
Can I commute from Houston for treatment?
For PHP, a daily round trip is not realistic, which is why many Houston clients stay in our transitional housing during that stage. Some people move to IOP later and work out a schedule that suits them; our team can help you plan.
Can my family visit while I am in Austin?
Yes. Houston is close enough for weekend visits, and family involvement is often part of recovery. We will talk with you about what support from family looks like for you.
What happens when I am ready to go back to Houston?
Before you step down, we build an aftercare plan with you, which can include connecting with a therapist, dietitian, or psychiatric provider in the Houston area so support continues.
Do you treat co-occurring anxiety, depression, or trauma?
Yes. We treat the eating disorder alongside co-occurring concerns. Read our guides to eating disorders and anxiety, depression, and trauma.
More for Houston
Articles and guides for readers in Houston.
Houston to Austin is a drive. The first step is a phone call.
Talk with a real member of our clinical team about what is going on, what level of care fits, and what coming to Austin would actually involve.