About Mary Pate-Bennett, MS, RD, LDN, CLC

MS, RD LDN · CLC

Background

Rooted in community. Trained across the country.

I'm a Sewanee native — I grew up here, attended school here, played soccer and ran Track and Cross Country at the University of the South, and ultimately returned to build my practice here. This community is where I'm most at home.

My professional journey has taken me from San Diego's county health system and WIC program, to Ireland supporting individuals with severe mental disabilities, to restaurant kitchens in Nashville, to graduate school at the University of Tennessee. Each experience deepened my understanding of how food, culture, psychology, and health are woven together.

Today, I bring all of that background to a practice centered on helping adults build a nourishing, sustainable relationship with food — on their own terms, without rigid rules or diet culture pressure.

2015

Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) Academy of Lactation Policy & Practice · San Diego, CA

2013

Public Health Nutrition, M.S. & Dietetic Internship University of Tennessee, Knoxville

2011

Didactic Program in Dietetics Middle Tennessee State University · Murfreesboro, TN

2006

Psychology, B.S. The University of the South · Sewanee, TN

Nutrition Philosophy

A food-positive, non-diet approach

I love food. So I'm not a believer in counting calories, detox programs, or rigid meal plans that have nothing to do with how you actually live. My goal in every session is to help you build realistic nutrition habits that genuinely fit your lifestyle — not someone else's ideal version of it.

Intuitive Eating

I help clients reconnect with their body's natural hunger and fullness signals — learning to eat in response to internal cues rather than external rules, diet myths, or emotional triggers.

Health at Every Size

Health is not determined by a number on a scale. I approach every client with respect for their body, their autonomy, and the full complexity of what wellbeing means to them personally.

Psychology & Nutrition Together

With a background in both psychology and public health nutrition, I understand that food choices are never just about nutrition. Behavior, emotion, culture, and environment all play a role — and I account for all of them.

Realistic, Meaningful Change

The most sustainable changes are the ones you actually want to make. I focus on helping you set goals that are grounded in your real schedule, preferences, and life — not a perfect version of it.

A Little About Me

Beyond the clinic

I started my career in San Diego, working with the county health department, a county hospital, and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program — where I also became a Certified Lactation Counselor supporting mothers with breastfeeding challenges.

More recently, I've focused much of my clinical work on the eating disordered population. It's deeply rewarding work that draws on my dual interest in psychology and nutrition — and one I approach with genuine care for each individual I work with.

Outside of work, you'll find me sewing and quilting, reading fiction, hiking the Cumberland Plateau, tending a vegetable garden, cooking, and spending time with my family. I'm a proud Sewanee native and still feel most at home here — which shapes the kind of accessible, grounded care I try to offer my clients.

Certifications & Licenses

RD Registered Dietitian (RD) — Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

LDN Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist — State of Tennessee

MS Master of Science, Public Health Nutrition — University of Tennessee

CLC Certified Lactation Counselor — Academy of Lactation Policy & Practice

"I focus on eating intuitively and recognizing the human relationship to food — so that the choices you make throughout the day will be thoughtful and meaningful."

— Mary Pate-Bennett, MS, RD, LDN, CLC

Meet Mary Pate-Bennett