Taking the FEAR out of Working with Eating Disorders
Gina Holmes, LMFT
Many therapists’ experience working with eating disorder clients has been fraught with anxiety, especially if they got caught up in the client’s circular--seemingly delusional--reasoning and/or began to personally identify with the obsessional torment ED clients can live in 24/7. As statistically more people die from eating disorders than any other psychological disorder, some fear in treating this population is based in reality, and when a client’s eating disorder is threatening her or his life, you have to be more directive, which can be difficult for some therapists.
Eating Disorder clients are usually very sensitive and may not be pursuing treatment because they want help, but because a significant other is encouraging them to do so. To prevent triangulation between the client and the significant other/s and/or the eating disorder, the therapist must have a solid sense of self because ED clients can sense the incongruence and will use it to undermine their treatment, which they may have not wanted in the first place. Being aware of this possibility can prevent over-investment and burnout, which is a common problem with clinicians working with eating disorders.
Because ED clients tend to be very adept at reading others and will pick up on any insecurity you may have about their treatment and use it as an excuse to believe in the terminal uniqueness that can accompany an eating disorder, the therapist must enter the treatment process confident in their skills as well as their understanding of eating disorders, the available medical and therapeutic support teams, and specific treatment plan options.
In
this seminar, Ms. Holmes will address the fear many clinicians feel
when working with this population and offer constructive ways to deal
with it through self-examination, genuineness, and congruency with one’s
core beliefs and theoretical orientation, balanced with continuing
education in the treatment of eating disorders. If
you work with Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Substance Abuse, OCD, PTSD
and other traumas, you have skills you have developed that can be
transferred to working with clients with eating disorders. We will look
at some of the specific interventions you already use with those
clients which can also help your eating disorder clients.
In addition to providing specific therapeutic techniques and skill sets for working with eating disorder clients, in this seminar we will discuss when to treat in private practice and when to refer out. We will also discuss treatment contracts and forms you may want to have clients sign for their understanding and your protection. You will also be given the APA Guidelines for the treatment levels of clients with eating disorders, so you can feel confident in your referrals.
Seminar participants will take away the following objectives:
1. How to use the somewhat pervasive fear of working with ED clients positively, in part through confidence in the skills they already possess.
2. Commonalities and differences between Anorexia and Bulimia and their treatment, utilizing the DSM V and common terms in the field of ED treatment
3. Knowledge of the various levels of care for the treatment of eating disorders and knowing when to treat in private practice and when to refer out with confidence that treatment referrals meet the APA Guidelines.
4. Resources for effective management of eating disorders.
Gina Holmes, LMFT has had extensive experience in working with eating disorder clients in the Inland Empire since 2005 where she has worked as a Clinical Therapist, Loma Linda University Behavioral Medical Center, Redlands, CA providing group, individual, and family therapy to both adolescents and adults in the Eating Disorder Partial Hospitalization Program. It was in this program that she worked with Kaiser psychiatrists contracted with the University who recruited her to come to Kaiser to start their Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient Program.As
Program Developer and Manager, Adult Eating Disorder Program, Kaiser
Permanente Department of Psychiatry, Fontana, CA, she has co-developed a
leading outpatient eating disorder program within Kaiser Permanente’s
Southern California region, and a complimentary Eating Disorder
Intensive Outpatient Program, which has been fully developed by 2009,
and which has been the blueprint other Kaisers are using to develop
their own eating disorder programs. The Fontana program regularly hosts
observation visits from Kaisers throughout Southern California and
provides guidance throughout their program development.
In addition to the EDIOP responsibilities, she also provides individual and family therapeutic services to adults with all types of diagnoses with an eclectic orientation and specialties in family of origin, inner child, and trauma issues. She has a strong working knowledge of 1) APA Guidelines regarding the Standard of Care for the treatment of Eating Disorders, and 2) local and state laws.
Training Evaluation – Summary Scores and Comments
Presenter: Gina Holmes, LMFT
Topic: “Taking the FEAR out of working with Eating Disorders”
Date: October 28, 2016 N= 38
After each item, please rate the statement with the score that best fits your experience:
1 not at all; 2 somewhat; 3 average; 4 mostly; or 5 very much:
Learning Objectives: Average
1. How to use the somewhat pervasive fear of working with ED clients positively,
in part through confidence in the skills they already possess. _3.6_
2. Commonalities and differences between Anorexia and Bulimia and their treatment,
utilizing the DSM V and common terms in the field of ED treatment _4.4_
3. Knowledge of the various levels of care for the treatment of eating disorders and
knowing when to treat in private practice and when to refer out with confidence that treatment referrals meet the APA Guidelines. _4.6_
4. Resources for effective management of eating disorders. _4.8_
5. Your knowledge and understanding of the topic before the training _2.2__
6. Your knowledge & understanding of the topic after the training _4.1__
7. How appropriate was the level of material for your education\experience status? _4.5__
Instructor: Yes No
1. The instructor was knowledgeable and responsive 38__ _0_
2. The instructor used technology and other appropriate (handouts)
materials for the course 36__ _2_
3. There was time for questions and useful information was provided 33__ _5_
Program:
3. This course will help me in my practice 38__ 0___
4. Information provided in this course seemed accurate and up-to-date 38__ 0___
5. The materials were useful and suitable for this training 37__ 1___
6. Ethical issues in practice were identified and options provided 34__ 4___
7. Cultural competency issues were addressed 32__ 6___
8. The facilities were adequate and appropriate? 38__ 0___
9. The program administration was effective? 37__ 1___
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Comments/Suggestions: (6) Very helpful. Excellent! This training was great! Loved this
(7) Need more time for this topic. Schedule Part II: Have a four-hour training
(3) Include more interventions and applied techniques
(2) Save questions for the end
(1) Great resources
(1) Your web site map is not accurate
Ideas for other trainings/presentations: (1) Helping clients with Autism
(1)Assessing Self injury and local strategies for 5150s