Looking for advice regarding eating disorder treatment clinics

[AliceSage]

I recently moved to Athens, GA, and found that there is an eating disorder clinic in the city - not too surprising given that it is a college town, I suppose. I am thinking of contacting them about my own weight issues (I am currently at around 430 lbs / 195 Kg, and have struggled with weight and body image issues my whole life), but I wanted some opinions on the clinic first. I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with them, and if so, what can you tell me (and the rest of the members) about them?

• Do they require or suggest getting a referral from a therapist?
• Do they have any medical doctors on staff or on call?
• How soon can I expect to see a counselor there?
• What sort of treatment plans or options do they pursue? Do they favor certain lines of treatment over others (e.g., a lot of previous therapists and physicians wanted me to get bariatric surgery, but the psychiatrist who interviewed me about it said I was too high a risk of relapse unless I addressed my psychological problems first)?
• How expensive are they, and what sort of payment or scale options do they have? I am pursuing getting on Disability, partly based on my weight (but mostly based on depression and anxiety disorders), so cost is significant factor.
• How welcoming are they to gender-variant patients? This is crucial, as I now think my ED is related to my gender issues, and I would absolutely need to discuss that with them.

I expect that others here will have similar questions about clinics in their own area, so don't limit this to just Athens, please.