I’m Linda Witnov, and I live in beautiful Oakland, California—across the Bay from San Francisco.

As a child, I was obsessed with sugar.  I ate in secret, feeling intense shame and anxiety. After dieting down to an admirably slim weight by age 15, I still felt fat and unloveable. At 16, I began a restrict/binge/purge cycle which continued for the next 20 years. Sometimes in that period I was at a “normal” weight; sometimes I was as much as 50 pounds overweight. My social life and career goals suffered. I was miserable.

Ever so gradually, I healed myself through psychotherapy and learning to nourish my body. Importantly, I became an early adopter of the Atkins diet, high protein and low carb (before it became popular), and found that it dramatically improved my energy, smoothed out my moods, and relieved cravings for sweets.

I understand how destructive unwanted eating behavior can be.  Now I know that making peace with food is possible.  For the past 25+ years, I’ve maintained a healthy weight and let go of the food obsessions that robbed me of joy.  I don’t want anyone else to suffer unnecessarily.

As a coach, I partner with you to transform unwanted thoughts and behaviors around eating, so you can stop feeling ruled by food and instead achieve a sense of peace while you maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life.

I bring to my practice a wealth of professional experiences which inform the way that I listen and interact with you.  I have a classical music training, a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, have worked as a people-oriented administrator in the education world, and most recently retired from a 16-year career as a public high school English teacher. Empathy is my natural language.

Due to my lifelong involvement with psychotherapy, I understand better than most coaches where the scope of coaching ends and therapy begins.  Therefore, I can intelligently guide you toward therapy if you need and desire it.