Taking the FEAR out of Working with Eating Disorders
Gina Holmes, LMFT
Many therapists’ experience working with eating disorder clients has been fraught with anxiety, especially if they got caught up in the client’s circular--seemingly delusional--reasoning and/or began to personally identify with the obsessional torment ED clients can live in 24/7. As statistically more people die from eating disorders than any other psychological disorder, some fear in treating this population is based in reality, and when a client’s eating disorder is threatening her or his life, you have to be more directive, which can be difficult for some therapists.
Eating Disorder clients are usually very sensitive and may not be pursuing treatment because they want help, but because a significant other is encouraging them to do so. To prevent triangulation between the client and the significant other/s and/or the eating disorder, the therapist must have a solid sense of self because ED clients can sense the incongruence and will use it to undermine their treatment, which they may have not wanted in the first place. Being aware of this possibility can prevent over-investment and burnout, which is a common problem with clinicians working with eating disorders.
Because ED clients tend to be very adept at reading others and will pick up on any insecurity you may have about their treatment and use it as an excuse to believe in the terminal uniqueness that can accompany an eating disorder, the therapist must enter the treatment process confident in their skills as well as their understanding of eating disorders, the available medical and therapeutic support teams, and specific treatment plan options.
In this seminar, Ms. Holmes will address the fear many clinicians feel when working with this population and offer constructive ways to deal with it through self-examination, genuineness, and congruency with one’s core beliefs and theoretical orientation, balanced with continuing education in the treatment of eating disorders. If you work with Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Substance Abuse, OCD, PTSD and other traumas, you have skills you have developed that can be transferred to working with clients with eating disorders. We will look at some of the specific interventions you already use with those clients which can also help your eating disorder clients.
In addition to providing specific therapeutic techniques and skill sets for working with eating disorder clients, in this seminar we will discuss when to treat in private practice and when to refer out. We will also discuss treatment contracts and forms you may want to have clients sign for their understanding and your protection. You will also be given the APA Guidelines for the treatment levels of clients with eating disorders, so you can feel confident in your referrals.
Seminar participants will take away the following objectives:
1. How to use the somewhat pervasive fear of working with ED clients positively, in part through confidence in the skills they already possess.
2. Commonalities and differences between Anorexia and Bulimia and their treatment, utilizing the DSM V and common terms in the field of ED treatment
3. Knowledge of the various levels of care for the treatment of eating disorders and knowing when to treat in private practice and when to refer out with confidence that treatment referrals meet the APA Guidelines.
4. Resources for effective management of eating disorders.
Gina Holmes, LMFT has had extensive experience in working with eating disorder clients in the Inland Empire since 2005 where she has worked as a Clinical Therapist, Loma Linda University Behavioral Medical Center, Redlands, CA providing group, individual, and family therapy to both adolescents and adults in the Eating Disorder Partial Hospitalization Program. It was in this program that she worked with Kaiser psychiatrists contracted with the University who recruited her to come to Kaiser to start their Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient Program.
As Program Developer and Manager, Adult Eating Disorder Program, Kaiser Permanente Department of Psychiatry, Fontana, CA, she has co-developed a leading outpatient eating disorder program within Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region, and a complimentary Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient Program, which has been fully developed by 2009, and which has been the blueprint other Kaisers are using to develop their own eating disorder programs. The Fontana program regularly hosts observation visits from Kaisers throughout Southern California and provides guidance throughout their program development.
In addition to the EDIOP responsibilities, she also provides individual and family therapeutic services to adults with all types of diagnoses with an eclectic orientation and specialties in family of origin, inner child, and trauma issues. She has a strong working knowledge of 1) APA Guidelines regarding the Standard of Care for the treatment of Eating Disorders, and 2) local and state laws.
MAP
Inland Empire Chapter of CAMFT is a CAMFT Approved CEU Provider Agency Provider # 62278
CEU Hours: This course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences
Certificates: Completion certificates will be awarded at the conclusion of the training and upon participant’s submission of his or her completed evaluation.
Refund Policy: If a participant is unable to attend and notifies IE-CAMFT 24 hours in advance of the training, full reimbursement will be sent within ten (10) working days.
Grievance: If any aspect of the training is not to the full satisfaction of any participant, please notify the coordinator, CEU committee chair, or another IE-CAMFT board member. We hope to resolve any issue immediately on-site. If not resolved, the full IE-CAMFT board will review and resolve the issue.
IE-CAMFT wishes all participants to have an excellent learning experience. Please notify the coordinator or other board member if you need special accommodations. If possible, call Garry Raley at (951) 640-5899 in advance.
