Upcoming Webinars

Description:

Psychiatric co-occurrence is common in the treatment of eating disorders, with PTSD and substance use co-occurring at particularly high rates. The presence of co-occurring substance use disorders, eating disorders, and PTSD is likely to negatively impact treatment outcomes. Although there has been progress and attention focused on integrated care for eating disorders and PTSD, recommendations and guidelines do not typically consider other co-occurring psychiatric conditions or substance use. This tends to lead to fragmented, siloed care, and vacillation of symptomatology over time. This phenomenon is often described by clinicians as the “Whack-a-mole” effect. Whereas, addressing one set of symptoms only results in an increase in the other addictive or problematic behaviors. Overall, this contributes to higher rates of relapse in this population and poorer treatment outcomes. As such, this population is especially suited for an integrated treatment approach, which can holistically address their complexities and improve treatment outcomes. However, clinicians need further resources, training and education in this area. Thus, the purpose of this webinar is to discuss clinical considerations and treatment recommendations, using evidence-based principles from existing eating disorders, addictions, and trauma treatments, for addressing co-occurring PTSD and substance use in eating disorder treatment.

• Alexandra (Lexie) Convertino, Ph.D.
  Dr. Convertino is an Assistant Professor at California Statue University, Dominguez Hills. Her research largely focuses on the role of stress – defined broadly to include both traumatic stressors and everyday stress – in eating disorders and other body image-related disorders (e.g., body dysmorphic disorder, muscle dysmorphia). 

• Charlotte Thomas, LCSW
  Charlotte is a practicing Clinical Social Worker and Certified DBT Clinician. She holds expertise in using Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy to treat individuals experiencing forms of anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, and borderline personality disorder, with specialization in eating disorders. Charlotte is currently serving as the Co-Chair of the AED SBT SIG. 

• Brittany Bohrer, Ph.D.
  Dr. Bohrer is a clinical psychologist and Co-occurring Disorders Track Coordinator in the Adult Treatment Prgram at the UCSD Health Eating Disorder Center. Dr. Bohrer has received specialty training in DBT for substance use disorders (DBT-SUD). She coordinates a multidisciplinary team to provide evidence-based care to patients with co-occurring substance use and eating disorders. 

• Kimberly Claudat, Ph.D.
  Dr. Claudat is an Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Adult Services at UCSD Health Eating Disorder Center. Her clinical and research interests focus on the connection between eating disorders and emotion regulation difficulties, particularly as this relates to commonly co-occurring disorders such as PTSD and Substance Use Disorders. She has received specialized training in CPT for PTSD, DBT Prolonged Exposure for PTSD, and DBT for SUD.