|
|
|
Psychotherapist,
Author, Nationally
Recognized Speaker and
Group Facilitator,
eating disorder
specialist Abigail H.
Natenshon, MA, LCSW,
GCFP is a
psychotherapist
specializing in the
treatment of eating
disorders, who for the
past 36 years, has
immersed herself in
helping parents help
their children recover
from these deadly
disorders. As a renowned
expert in the field of
eating disorders, child
rearing, and parenting,
she has made guest
appearances on the Oprah
Winfrey Show and The
John Walsh Show. The
author of When Your
Child Has an Eating
Disorder: A Step-by-Step
Workbook for Parents and
Other Caregivers, she
hosts three informative
and reader-friendly web
sites,
www.empoweredparents.com,
www.empoweredkidZ.com
and
www.treatingeatingdisorders.com,
Abigail is also a Guild
Certified Feldenkrais
Practitioner.
|
|
Endorsement:
“Ms. Natenshon is a
gifted and engaging
presenter in the area of
eating disorders and its
treatment. Her grasp of
the material, ability to
synthesize important
insights and impart them
in a highly "usable"
manner is impressive and
inspiring. Her clinical
sensitivity and passion
for her subject empowers
her audience to leave
feeling enhanced and
prepared to face
clinical challenges. By
combining clear
thinking, concrete tools
and a wealth of clinical
experience, she helps
you understand not only
what to do when treating
this population, but
why."
- Ava Carn-Watkins
Ph.D.Assistant Director
Graduate
Program in Counseling
Psychology
The Family
Institute at
Northwestern University:
Center for
Applied Psychological
and Family Studies
Click here
to read about Full or Half-day Training Alternatives
SEMINARS OFFERED
NEW
Stepping Up to
the Plate:
Parents as MVPs on
their Eating Disordered
Child's Treatment Team
An Experiential Half-Day
Workshop with and for
Parents and Families
With Abigail Natenshon
There is no greater
resource for the
recovering child, the
professional team, and
the healing process than
enlightened and
empowered parenting. It
is up to responsive
parents to turn their
love into action,
paralleling the forward
momentum of stubborn and
insidious disorders that
rob families of their
child and the child of
her Self. Parents learn
to use themselves
optimally in finding
expert care and in
putting together an
effective treatment team
in support of their
child's recovery; and
collaboratively in
carrying out their role
as most valuable players
on the treatment team in
support of the child,
the treatment and
recovery processes. The
inclusion of parents,
families and loved ones,
(particularly with child
patients and near-adult
children) insures that
the family system
changes alongside the
recovering child,
offering efficacy in the
pacing and
sustainability of
recovery.
With a focus on
parenting for successful
outcomes, this workshop
will teach
what parents need to
know to:
-
Determine criteria
for choosing
effective team
professionals; learn
what you are
listening for in
prospective
candidates, and to
trust your instincts
-
Help their child
engage in treatment
and stay engaged.
-
Participate in
treatment; parental
roles and the nature
of support will vary
throughout the
process
-
Listen actively, to
child, to team, and
to recovery
-
Recognize recovery
signs when they see
them
-
Shepherd the
recovery process to
its completion; not
stopping till their
child is THERE.
-
Communicate
effectively with the
treatment team,
encouraging
professionals to
speak with each
other for purposes
of trouble-shooting.
-
Seek support for
themselves, along
with professional
consultation
Experiential component:
This workshop with and
for parents and loved
ones will be
experiential, devoted to
voluntary participation
in a multi-family
educative-support group
of up to approximately
25 people, to be
facilitated by Abigail
Natenshon. Coming
together in a "fish
bowl" format surrounded
by the remaining
workshop participants,
this configuration will
allow for growth and
learning on the part of
participants and
observers alike. The
experience will offer
opportunities for
families to speak and
listen to each other,
and among themselves,
and for Abigail to
address some of the
pressing concerns of
workshop participants.
Click to read article
Other Workshops for
Parents and Care-Givers
RE: Infancy and Early
childhood
The Obscure
“Eating” Disorders
Feeding Disorders and
Picky Eating in Infants
and Children
Picky eating and food
refusal in young
children is typically
not a matter of food
preference, a passing
stage, a bid for
attention or a
demonstration of
attempts to gain power
and control. In all too
many case, because they
do not typically affect
a child’s growth
pattern, they are not
identified by
pediatricians as being a
cause for concern.
Feeding problems are
real; they are
hard-wired and
neurological. Their
far-reaching effects are
nutritional,
interpersonal,
behavioral and
developmental, altering
the sense of self and
self-esteem, family
relations, sociability,
as well as academic and
professional
performance. Typically
the result of sensory
integration disorders or
other neurological
syndromes, eating
problems that underlie
more pervasive
neurological problems
are wholly reparable if
recognized early on and
treated effectively at a
time when the brain is
most malleable. A
knowledgeable and
proactive response sets
the stage for the
prevention of
clinical eating
disorders later in life.
Eating Disorders in Young
Children
What They Mean for Parent and
Child
What they require for cure
Four and five year olds
who exhibit food fears,
food refusal,
weight-related rituals,
or compulsive eating
habits are most likely
not suffering from
clinical eating
disorders, but from
anxiety, confusion about
what healthy eating is,
and a temperament and
genetically determined
susceptibility to
developing a clinical
eating disorder in years
to come. The sooner
parents recognize,
understand, and
effectively respond to
early sign s of eating
dysfunction, the better
the child’s chances to
avoid the lethal
consequences of clinical
disease and resolve the
underlying emotional
issues that drive them.
Eating disorders are the
product of "nature,"
(heredity, inborn
temperament, anxiety and
compulsivity,) as well
as "nurture," (the
child's modeling after
parental attitudes and
behaviors, beliefs and
lifestyles); enlightened
and empowered parenting
and child care can
virtually "immunize" a
child against developing
these diseases.
RE: Children, Teens and
Young Adults
Body Image Concerns: A
New Face to Childhood
Fears
Combating body image
fears fortifies a
child’s healthy
connection to self and
to family
Body size acceptance is
not related to weight or
actual body size, but to
self-esteem and
emotional health.
The true indicator of a
healthy body image is
the child’s sense of
security, confidence and
well-being - not her
ability to fit into size
2 jeans. It has
been reported that 80%
of girls in grades three
through six have bad
feelings about their
bodies, an issue
diverting attention from
schoolwork and
friendships; 25% of
first grade girls have
already been on diets.
It is up to parents to
insure that children
grow up with all the
emotional tools and
resources they need to
love and accept self and
body. Body image
concerns may be
precursors to eating
disorders. Even when
they do not lead to
clinical disease, they
deserve attention so the
child can learn to enjoy
a healthful relationship
with food, with the
self, and with loved
ones.
“Monkey See, Monkey Do”
Parental attitudes about
eating and weight
control wield
significant
influence on the
development of a child’s
eating patterns
How parents feel about
themselves and their
own relationship
with food are critical
forces in determining
how children learn to
feel about themselves,
particularly with regard
to eating and weight
management. In
many cases, a parent’s
fears, insecurities or
preoccupations with food
and body image are as
central an influence on
a child’s relationship
with food as what they
eat. Children are keen
observers, and parents
are potent teachers,
teaching best by
example. By becoming
knowledgeable about
healthy eating, aware of
one’s own personal
attitudes, biases and
beliefs, and mindful of
their consequences in
raising children,
parents take charge of
their own lives, their
parenting, and the
physical and emotional
well being of their
children. By rectifying
misconceived beliefs and
attitudes of their own,
parents develop
healthier eating habits
and exercise lifestyles
and become better able
to impart these
important life lessons
to their children.
Eating Healthfully in a
Food Phobic World
Learning to eat
healthfully in a
society than mandates thinness and that promotes widespread
misconceptions about
healthy eating is not
easy these days.
Even more complex is the
job of teaching healthy
eating habits and a
healthy exercise
lifestyle to our
children. Children are
“quick studies;” parents
are their most potent
teachers, teaching best
through example. Parents
need to become educated
about what healthy
eating is, and about how
to communicate with
their children to
counteract
self-destructive eating
mythologies and promote
eating health. If you or
your child believes that
fat-free is healthy
eating, that junk food
is “bad”; that people
should only eat when
they are hungry; that
dieting is the best way
to lose weight; or that
“nobody eats breakfast,”
you will benefit from
this workshop.
Healthy eating is a way
of life, a healthy
relationship between
food and the self that
requires the capacity
for sound judgment and
decision-making,
accurate
self-perception,
self-regulation and
-care. Mastering the art
of healthy eating
underlies effective
functioning in all other
spheres of life, forming
the backbone of the
loving and connected
family and virtually
immunizing children
against the onset of
clinical eating
disorders.
Empowering parents to
Become Eating Disorder
Recovery Advocates
Through Healing
Connections
By partnering with
parents, professionals
create healing alliances
that enhance and support
the recoveries of eating
disordered children.
This workshop will
discuss the
professional’s role in
mentoring parents of
eating disordered
children to become a
proactive and
integrative part of a
multi-disciplinary
treatment effort,
healing and supporting
their child through a
timely and lasting
recovery.
The most timely and
sustained recovery
outcomes occur when
parents and families are
encouraged to optimize
healing connections with
self, spouse, their
recovering child, and
the child's treatment
team. This workshop will
provide strategies for
professionals to use to
access and integrate the
power of parents,
assisting parents to
access their own
potential to mentor the
healing process as
advocates for child and
treatment team.
Educating and empowering
parents enhances and
streamlines the work of
health professionals,
cutting the recovery
time and the cost of
treatment services to
eating disordered
children. Visit
www.empoweredparents.com
and click on the link,
http://www.empoweredparents.com/pages/Article11.htm
to learn more about the
role of parents in a
child’s eating disorder
recovery.
Learning Objectives:
Professionals learn to
provide parents the
empowering assistance
they require in their
efforts to:
Empowering Mothers
Through the Child’s
Recovery
When disempowered
mothers have the
opportunity to create a
constructive alliance
with their child through
appropriate involvement
in the child’s eating
disorder treatment and
recovery efforts, they
typically parallel their
child’s emotional
growth. This workshop
explores the proposition
that promoting
appropriate, empowered
and proactive parenting
during a child’s eating
disorder recovery
empowers mother, child,
the recovery process,
and the parent/child
relationship, while
preventing relapse.
Teaching Self-Love,
Learning Body-Love
Through Jewish
Education: Promoting A
Diet For A Healthy Soul
Ms. Natenshon discusses
the nuts and bolts of
eating disorders...what
they are
about, and what they
mean for our children...
along with providing
practical
tools and strategies to
recognize these problems
in Jewish students and
intervene effectively as
mentors in promoting
prevention and healing.
Abbie offers curriculum
ideas for Jewish
educators and youth
group leaders, promoting
the power of positive
relationships and human
connection through
uniquely Jewish
solutions.
As a follow-up to this
seminar, Abbie offers
her expertise as a group
psychotherapist and
educator to run
educative-support groups
for teachers and youth
group leaders, for kids
and their parents.
Participate Testimonial:
"I've gleaned a new and
mature appreciation for
many of the elements of
the observant lifestyle.
One book in particular
has been inspiring me
lately-- its a book of
quotes by the "Rebbe"
Schneerson called
"Bringing Heaven Down to
Earth: 365 meditations
of the Rebbe". Its a
book of 365 thoughts to
read daily and digest
throughout the day. you
would really enjoy this
book I think. Its been
amazing to me to look
through it because each
of these snippets of
wisdom are so profound,
such mind-blowing little
nuggets of insight, and
then I realize that the
only place I've heard
information in this
format before is with
you! It just goes to
show that the
foundational elements of
our religion and
heritage penetrate
everything that we do,
explicitly or not,
whether we are aware of
it or not. And its also
amazing the ways in
which elements of Jewish
thought and spirituality
can be interpreted
through the lens of
eating disorder
recovery."
...KRB, a client and a
student of Judaism
For more information or
to request a workshop,
contact Abbie
|
|
|
|