Eating disorders (EDs) are serious and difficult to treat psychiatric illnesses which frequently co-occur with medical complications, psychiatric conditions, and ambivalence toward recovery. Early diagnosis and prompt intervention, based on a developmentally appropriate and evidence-based multidisciplinary team approach is the ideal standard of care. However, if you are not an ED specialist, identifying and assessing the ED, deciding among the various treatments available and knowing when you need to refer to a higher level of care can be overwhelming. The good news is that there is a vast literature to guide these decisions!
During this webinar series, AED Fellow Lucene Wisniewski, PhD emphasizes integrating cutting edge research and evidence-based protocols into real-world clinical practice to help the general practitioner feel more confident treating EDs.
Sessions 1-2 of the workshop provides an overview of how to identify and diagnose an ED in adults and adolescents, decide upon the appropriate level of care (outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial hospital, residential and inpatient) and treatment approach based on diagnosis, case conceptualization and available resources. Special attention is given to how to execute this effectively in clinical practice.
Sessions 3-4 discusses how to assemble a multidisciplinary treatment team and review the basic elements of evidence based ED care. Finally, session 5 reviews how to know if the treatment is effective and what to do if it is not, and how to know if you need more training.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this workshop, the attendee should be able to:
- diagnose and assess a client with an eating disorder.
- identify factors involved in evaluating the need for a higher level of care
- articulate the evidence based treatments for ED clients
- evaluate if treatment is successful
- identify how to assemble a multidisciplinary treatment team
About the Speaker:
Dr. Wisniewski provides expert training and education in evidence-based treatments to therapists and other medical professionals both in person and online. She is a world-renowned lecturer, expert and fellow at the Academy for Eating Disorders, a global professional association and leader in eating disorder treatment. In addition, she has served on the academy’s board of directors and as the co-chair of its Borderline Personality Disorder special interest group. Over the past 25 years, she has taught hundreds of workshops locally and internationally, and has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and invited book chapters.
Dr Wisniewski currently holds an adjunct assistant professor of psychological sciences appointment at Case Western Reserve University. Her passion and commitment lies in matching evidence-based treatments with her clients’ needs, as well as helping therapists become masters in using these industry-leading treatments to inform clinical practice.
Dr. Wisniewski has more than 25 years of clinical and program development experience. From 2006-2014, she served as clinical director and co-founder of the Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders, a comprehensive eating disorder treatment program offering evidenced-based care. From there, she served as the chief clinical integrity officer from 2014 to 2017 at The Emily Program, a multi-state eating disorder treatment center.
Dr. Wisniewski provides expert eating disorder treatment using evidence-based therapies, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Maudsley Family Based Therapy, to address eating disorders, depression, anxiety and emotion management, among others. She is an internationally recognized expert in eating disorder treatment, earning some of the highest awards and accreditations in the industry. In 2013, she received the Outstanding Clinician Award from the Academy for Eating Disorders to acknowledge her contribution to the field of eating disorder treatment. Dr. Wisniewski is committed to the success of her clients.