Background: The client with an eating disorder often uses food as a communication tool. The clinician must sort through the behaviors to decode the silent message. Food experientials are often necessary to break through deep-seated eating patterns. Come and experience food from your client’s perspective with this psychoeducational and experiential workshop.
I: Intro to Food Experiential Therapy and eating with your clients
II: It is about the food
Food philosophy
Food rules
Food goals
Changing clients relationship with food
Therapist Role
RD role
III: It is not about the food
Culture/Media
Food as metaphor
Family food history
III: The language of the Eating Disorder
Food rituals
Food aversions
II: Specific Interventions
Food Play
Desensitization: restaurant meals, therapeutic meals, cooking experientials, grocery store tours
Gentle Eating Experience
Mirror Eating
Group versus one on one
III: Role Plays
Food Play
Therapeutic meal
Gentle Eating Experience
Mirror Eating
IV: Food Exposure at Varying Levels
Residential
PHP
IOP/Outpatient
V: Conclusions
Eating Disorders are not about food and weight. However, to ignore the food behaviors is like waiting out a viral infection without treating the fever and congestion. The client with an eating disorder often uses food as a communication tool. The clinician must sort through the behaviors to decode the silent message. Talk therapy is important; however we have found food experientials and hands on work are often necessary to break through deep seated eating patterns. We will offer lecture as well as experiential activities and case studies that will provide insights, practical strategies and useful application methods. The audience will have opportunity to role play food interventions. Finally, a meal will be provided in which the audience can walk through a gentle eating experience. This proposal is for a 3 hr. workshop including mealtime and can be adapted to Breakfast or Lunch. Registration would need to be limited to 75-100 people.
Alice Baker RD LD/N has 16 years’ experience in the field of Eating Disorders. She was passionate about eating disorders from the beginning; therefore did her fieldwork in eating disorders and presented her internship case study on Anorexia Nervosa. Alice has served clients with eating disorders through the full spectrum of care from inpatient to outpatient. Throughout her passion grew into creating structure for her clients to heal. This includes creating nutrition protocols for multiple eating disorder programs. Alice currently sees clients in private practice, facilitates support groups and trains new dietitians in the eating disorder field.
Debra Landau-West, M.S.,R.D. has been in private practice since 1979, specializing in eating disorders. She began her private practice shortly after finishing her internship at Emory University and while she was completing her Masters of Science at Arizona State University. She has developed and overseen the nutrition therapy services at several residential and inpatient eating disorder treatment centers. Debra has presented at several national conferences on eating disorders and enjoys sharing her experiences and passion with other health care professionals seeking to learn as much as possible about eating disorder treatment.
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Patty A. Fahlstrom, MS, RD, LD
Patty Fahlstrom is the National Director of Nutrition for Monte Nido and Associates and previous owner of Fruits of Wisdom Nutrition Consulting. She has worked in the field of eating disorders for over 18 years, 8 of those years in residential and day treatment settings. Patty has had a varied career in dietetics since 1994 and has worked as a pediatric dietitian, a university nutrition instructor, a local media spokesperson and a small business owner. Patty spends some of her time feeding her soul by creating whimsical mixed media art pieces and is currently working on pieces for her showing.
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Joann ZumBrunnen, LCSW
As an undergraduate student, Joann ZumBrunnen studied woman and gender studies and psychology. Later in graduate school focused on issues related to healing from grief, loss and trauma. These two areas of study provided a strong foundation for her work with eating disorders. Through psychotherapy, she addresses a client’s deep sorrow that is often at the heart of eating disorder symptoms and expands the soul to create and identify healthy aspects of the whole person. Exploration of relationships with ones self, family system, food, body and weight are key areas of healing with a focus on restoration in these areas.
