Background: Grounding:The act of staying focused in the present-moment. Participants will learn best practices from traditional and cutting-edge techniques to help ED clients, often cut off from their bodies,stay grounded and focused throughout treatment and beyond. The ancient practices of yoga and mindfulness will be explored to enhance the grounding experience.
Grounding the Client: Enhancing Treatment through Mindfulness and Yoga
I. Introduction and Overview of Presentation
A. Define grounding and its importance for both client and clinician.
B. Explore the link between grounding and being an embodied therapist.
C. Identify the effective role of grounding in the treatment of eating disorders.
D. Show video clip to demonstrate client work
E. Practice experiential exercises to enhance the "feeling" of grounding and improving body image.
F. Integrate techniques for grounding into treatment
II. Mindfulness
A. Define mindfulness.
B. Explore the relationship between mindfulness and grounding
C. Integrating mindfulness techniques into the treatment of ED to enchance grounding in the body and mind.
D. Practicing mindfulness strategies and exercises.
III. Yoga
A. Brief history of yoga
B. The role of yoga in helping ED clients ground physically, mentally, and spiritually.
C. Integrating yoga into the treatment process
D. Effective yoga poses for grounding the client.
IV. Conclusion
A. Closing Meditation
B. Q&A
The concept and implementation of grounding within the the psychotherapeutic process has been well established, both in our profession's past and its burgeoning future. We will endeavour to illustrate traditional and cutting-edge therapeutic techniques that can keep a client present and focused, thereby facililtating more effective treatment. As we know, eating disorder clients have a very hard time with remaining present whether in session or their own lives. Our presentation will bring to light the supplemental uses of mindfulness and yoga in the treatment room as well as in the client's day to day life. Research is exposing the potential of both mindfulness and yoga practices to allow our clients not only to stay focused and present during difficult phases of treatment, but also to raise their awareness of the experiences within their bodies and the patterns in their minds. As societal pressures push all of us to work harder, faster and take in as much information as possible, we are forced into a dominant state of multi-tasking. As a result, we forego downtime, introspection and, too often, the hope of a fulfilling life. Such demands on our attention leave us distractible, anxious and avoidant. Leading companies like Google and Apple have begun to recognize the importance of present-focus and the impact it has on productivity, fulfillment and connection. Google, for example, offers its own Mindfulness program for employees, taught by "Jolly Good Fellow", engineer and author Chade-Meng Tan. Here, we will explore both practice and evidence-based techniques, including meditation, attentional training and yoga postures, that can help eating disorder clients and practitioners alike acheive their goals in treatment as well as in life. The goal of this presentation then, will be that all attendees are able to understand and implement such skills within the therapeutic environment.
Lewis is a licensed psychologist who has worked both privately, and in Northern California’s top healthcare companies. He holds doctorate and masters degrees from Nova Southeastern University in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida.He has worked in university counseling centers, community mental health centers, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and outpatient clinics.His training centered on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness.Lewis became certified as a yoga teacher in 2008 and regularly incorporates yoga, meditation and mindfulness into his work as a psychologist.His specialties include OCD, Eating Disorders and Anxiety Disorders.Lewis was a keynote speaker at the 2010 iaedp conference and does regular workshops on Mindfulness and Anxiety.
Elisa Mott,Ed.S, received her Masters and Specialist degrees in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Florida.She holds certificates in yoga, Pilates, Spirituality in Health and Arts in Healthcare.She was awarded an International Excellence in Counseling Research Grant at the ACA conference for research and development of "Using Yoga to Improve Wellness:Exploring the Effects of a Four-Week Luna Yoga Program on Female Counselors and Counselors in Training".She is the co-author of the chapter The Use of Holistic Methods to Integrate the Shattered Self in the textbook Treating Eating Disorders:Bridging the Practice-Research Gap.She is currently working toward her 500hr yoga certification.
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Adrienne Ressler, LMSW, CEDS, Fiaedp
Adrienne Ressler, an ED and body image specialist, is VP of Professional Development, The Renfrew Center Foundation, and past-president/Fellow of iaedp. With extensive training in gestalt therapy, psychodrama, bio-energetic analysis and Alexander Technique, her work is published in The International Journal of Fertility and Women’s Medicine, Social Work Today, and the Journal of the International Spa Association. She has contributed chapters for 2 ED textbooks and an entry, Experiential and Somatopsychic Approaches to Body Image Change, in the first Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance. Adrienne is Co-chairperson of the AED Somatic Therapies Special Interest Group.
