Julia Hormes

My research broadly examines the psychology of human food choice and eating behavior, with a particular focus on factors that contribute to body image concerns and disordered eating across the lifespan. I am especially interested in reproductive life stages, including pregnancy and the menopause transition, as periods of change in eating behavior, body image and vulnerability to eating disorder symptoms.

My research also examines behavioral and psychological processes that commonly intersect with disordered eating, including food cravings, addiction-like eating, excessive exercise and maladaptive social media use. Across these areas, we are interested in understanding both risk and resilience and in identifying modifiable factors that can inform prevention and intervention.

A growing focus of my work is the development and evaluation of accessible, scalable behavioral interventions designed to promote positive relationships with food and body image across the lifespan. This includes brief and single-session interventions that target very early risk factors for disordered eating through parent education, address eating-related concerns during pregnancy, and promote self-compassion as a protective factor against body image concerns among emerging adults.

In a second line of work my lab examines the experiences of women in the academy to identify and ultimately eliminate barriers to their retention and success in academic careers.

I am a licensed psychologist in New York State, and my clinical interests include eating disorders, substance and behavioral addictions, and psychosocial adjustment to living with chronic health conditions.