101689: Helping Clients in Outpatient Treatment Move from An Addiction Model to An Integrative Approach to Eating Disorders Treatment and Recovery

About the Course:

Audio presentation from the 2009 International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Symposium.
Note: For this course there is a small additional fee to obtain the audio presentation. Please see the “Get Course Materials” link in the right sidebar for details.

Some clients in outpatient psychotherapy for disordered eating are members of 12-Step recovery programs that use the addictions model, based on that of Alcoholics Anonymous, to address eating problems. Many of the tenets of such programs, which work well when applied to alcohol and drug problems, are actually counter-productive for eating disorder sufferers. In this workshop, the presenters will explain ways in which the philosophy of the addictions/abstinence model parallels the schema of eating disorders themselves, and offer clinical interventions for shifting and expanding clients’ perspectives to that of a comprehensive, integrative model of recovery.

Content Outline:
I. Introduction to the addictions model of eating disorders/disordered eating recovery and the various 12-Step programs in which it is commonly used A. Overeaters Anonymous B. HOW C. FA D. FAA E. RFA
II. Defining recovery: Comparing and contrasting the addictions-model philosophy to that of eating-disordered thinking and to that of on integrative model of recovery A. A feminist viewpoint: concerns involved in applying the 12-Step philosophy to women with disordered eating B. Abstinence and plans of eating: a corollary to sobriety v. developing a natural relationship with food C. Eating disorder symptoms as the voice of split-off aspects of self (i.e., part of a Gestalt) v. eating disorder symptoms as “the disease” D. Ego-syntonic eating disorder symptoms (e.g.,restriction, exercise) and ego-dystonic symptoms (e.g., bingeing, inactivity) as viewed by the addictions/abstinence approach and by an integrative recovery model
III. Challenges therapists face in treating clients who participate in the programs and adhere to the addictions perspective A. Supporting the development of a client’s inner voice v. attachment to an external regulatory system B. Clients’ resistance to exploring the social/developmental/environmental etiology of eating disorders C. Assisting clients to move beyond an identity of “sick,” and re-integrating themselves into their personal as well as global community.
IV. Blending an integrative model with 12-Step philosophy in clinical treatment A. The role of the body: somatics and body image B. Aspects of 12-Step programs that support healthy recovery C. Appetites, desires, perfectionism and shame D. Therapeutic Modalities: Cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, psychodynamic, ACT, DBT, body-oriented, feminist and more V. Clinical interventions for use with clients: description and experiential exercises
VI. Additional Questions and Answers

Authors

Deborah L. Klinger, M.A., LMFT, CEDS (presenter); Clare A. Stadlen, LCSW (presenter)

About the Authors:

Deborah Klinger, MA, LMFT, CEDS is a psychotherapist in private practice in Chapel Hill, NC. She has worked in the field of eating disorders treatment since 1990. She treats clients across the eating disorders spectrum individually and in groups. She is a clinical member of AAMFT and NCAMFT. An IAEDP Approved Supervisor, she has given numerous presentations on eating disorders, and is published in “Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention.” She is a yoga instructor,a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner, and is pursuing certification as a trauma-sensitive yoga teacher through Bessel van Der Kolk’s Trauma Center.

Clare Stadlen, MSW, LCSW, has over 18 years of professional experience in counseling and psychotherapy. Clare has worked extensively with women, men, adolescent girls, college and grad students, and elders. She gained comprehensive experience in the treatment of trauma and eating disorders while working at the Renfrew Center, a renowned residential treatment center. Subsequently, she helped to create an eating disorder program at a residential trauma center in New Mexico. Clare has lectured to colleges and universities on the subject of body image and eating disorders. She has been in private practice in North Carolina since 2001.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially psychologists, therapists, and counselors who seek to update their research knowledge and competency in treating patients with eating disorders, increase and acquire new skills, learn new intervention strategies, and obtain continuing education credits. It is appropriate for professionals at all levels of knowledge.

Course Objectives:

1. Following this presentation, participants will be able to identify, utilize and explain creative ways of accessing, utilizing and incorporating the underlying spiritual and recovery tenets of the 12 Steps within a psychotherapeutic context.

2. Following this presentation, participants will be able to identify, utilize and explain practical ways in which the eating disorder therapist can aid clients who participate in 12-Step eating recovery programs to expand their perspective so that they may experience an integrative recovery process.

3. Following this presentation, participants will be able to identify, utilize and explain the theoretical foundation, applied interventions, and intended outcomes of the addiction/abstinence model of eating disorders recovery and ways in which this model effectively mirrors an eating disordered schema.