For Nutritionists and Registered Dieticians

The Unique Use of the Nutritionist’s Self in the Treatment of Eating Disorders

Eight goals and objectives qualifying this lecture for CEU status:

·          Understanding what eating disorders are and their full implications for individual and family.

·          Dispelling myths and misconceptions

·          Assuming diagnostic responsibility; recognizing an elusive diagnosis

·          The nutritionist’s unique use of self in the face of unique and complex disorders

·          The nutritionist's role as member of the out -patient treatment team; putting a team together

·          Including parents as recovery advocates for child patients

·          The Nuts and Bolts of eating disorder treatment; The Nutritionist’ Tool Box

·          Facilitating a committed recovery and aftercare

Treating eating disorders as a specialization is surely not for the chicken- hearted; my professional colleague and co-founder of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois, a talented nutritionist, cites a conversation with her advisor in graduate school about treating these diseases.  The argument of her superior was to beware of this specialization…  “the work is tough, the clients resistant, the changes minimal, and the liability risk enormous, as people die from these disorders.”

Despite the fact that ED are the most lethal of all the mental health disorders, their treatment has fallen through the cracks of formal education, as most graduate schools for health professionals fail to include ED courses in their curriculum. As a result, there are not enough adequately trained specializing professionals available to meet patient numbers and demands, and patients and families are being deprived of the quality of treatment they need and deserve.

Comprehensive and integrative diseases require comprehensive and integrative care.

As care-givers, educators, mentors, cheerleaders, therapists, and role models, nutritionists are as important to the cure of life threatening eating disorders as is the psychotherapist and physicians.

Agenda Outline

                                                Nutritional Treatment Challenges

1. Understanding ED; what they are...and what they are not.
   1. Eating disorders are not primarily dysfunctions of eating or weight management

2. How the eating disorder works

3. Busting myths

4. Capturing an elusive diagnosis
   1. It is for nutritionists to diagnose what is often missed in the medical evaluation

5. A look at how the ED patient heals

6. The unique use of the nutritionist’s self
   1. Human connections heal.

7. What sets ED treatment apart? 
   1. The nutritionist’s roles
   2. The parent connection

8. The nutritionist's role as member of the out -patient treatment team; putting the team together and functioning within it.

9. ED Treatment Nuts and Bolts: Getting down and dirty in the trenches
   1. The Nutritionist’s “Tool Box”
   2. Healing through Action
   3. Doing what works

10. Facilitating Recovery and Aftercare
    
     

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