Understanding Eating Disorders and Ways to Support System-Involved Youth Who are Struggling with Them

Brooke Hailey, PhD

Training Description

This training will help those who support system-involved youth gain a better understanding of the different kinds of eating disorders and the reasons people turn to eating disorders to help them cope. Once that is understood, participants will learn about resources within the community which support recovery as well as how they can help those struggling. They will also learn preventive techniques to stop eating disorders from developing.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

● Identify 5 different kinds of eating disorders and explain at least 2 behaviors or symptoms of each of them.

● Explain at least 2 reasons why system-involved youth turn to restriction, binging and purging or over exercise to help them cope with feelings that become unmanageable.

● Identify at least 5 strategies for effectively supporting an individual with an eating disorder and acquire a list of resources which can be utilized to support system-involved youth who are struggling with an eating disorder.

Agenda

9:00-9:15am  Introduction: My experience and my own history of eating disorder recovery

9:15-10:00am

● Types of eating disorders (symptoms, criteria and examples)

  o Anorexia

  o Bulimia

  o Binge-eating disorder

  o Orthorexia

  o Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

● Screening tools that are helpful (SCOFF)

10:00-10:15am  Reasons system-involved youth develop eating disorders

● Family dynamics

● Social pressures to be thin

● Inability to deal with overwhelming feelings

● Poor communication skills

● Poor self-esteem

● Global pandemic

10:15-10:30am  Data: Statistics on Eating Disorders and Co-occurring mental disorders commonly associated with eating disorders

10:30-10:45am  The effects of social media on system-involved youth.

● Examine how social media has increased eating disorders and how eating disorders affect people of all sexes, genders, races and economic backgrounds.

● Interactive exercise: List all the ways you think social media might negatively affect system-involved youth.

10:45-11:00am  Risks of an eating disorder that goes untreated (Effects on cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system and nervous system)

11:00-11:30am  Specific strategies to help system-involved youth who suffer from eating disorders. (These same strategies can also be used to help prevent eating disorders)

● Promote positive body image/no commenting on appearance

● Model self-compassion

● Promote balanced eating. No bad/good foods

● Support self-esteem from sources other than appearance

● Resources such as books, body positive social media accounts, National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) website, National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), and Overeaters Anonymous (OA) groups

11:30am-12:00pm  Interactive exercise

· Vignette of a system involved youth struggling with an eating disorder.

· In small groups, diagnose which eating disorder and come up with 3 strategies to help them.

12:00-12:30pm  Lunch break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

12:30 -1:30pm   Effective Treatment Modalities for Eating Disorders

· Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

  o Mindfulness

  o Distress Tolerance

  o Emotion Regulation

  o Interpersonal Effectiveness

· Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  o Correcting Distorted Thoughts around Food and Body Image

  o Positive Self Talk

  o Evidence Log

· Family Based Therapy

  o Agnostic View of Illness

  o Externalizing Illness

  o Food is Medicine

1:30-2:00pm  Questions and Wrap-Up

Meet Our Trainer

Brooke Hailey, PhD is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She completed her undergraduate work at New York University and then received her master’s degree from Antioch University and her PhD from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has been in private practice in Los Angeles for more than twenty years. She is also the owner and clinical director of New Directions, an intensive outpatient program for eating disorders. Brooke works with adults, adolescents, couples and families. Though she specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, Brooke works with clients who have a variety of issues from depression, anxiety and addiction to relationship issues.

This course meets the qualifications for (4.5) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.