Control is one small aspect that those with eating disorders struggle with on a day to day basis.  Often those newer to the field or those who do not treat eating disorders on a regular basis can feel "control" is the underlying issue an individual with an eating disorder is struggling with. Control however is just the surface of deeper concerns that have to do with malnutrition and emotion dysregulation. Eating disorders go way beyond the need "to control." Meredith and Jill explore what "deeper" issues could be lurking beneath. 

Meredith and Jill discuss various ethical dilemmas that can occur when working with clients struggling with eating disorders. Ethical concerns can occur due to several reasons such as a long length of time working with clients and building strong relationships. These relationships without ethical consideration can sometimes develop into dual relationships if strong boundaries are not established or there is a lack of understanding of one's ethical code within their profession. Meredith and Jill emphasize the importance of consistent supervision to support the clinician through any ethical considerations that may arise. 

Meredith and Jill explore and discuss how to conceptualize clients that appear with restrictive eating disorder behavior and those who present with compulsive eating disorder behavior. These behaviors are often expressed through temperament and personality traits. What are the skills and patterns of interventions needed and knowledge base for clinicians working with these clients? Many clients have common comorbidities and are often best supported through therapies such as DBT and RO-DBT. Learn more about these important interventions and much more. 

Meredith and Jill discuss the ins and outs of holiday management for clients. Food can be a huge struggle with emotions and clients being around food they have not been around for over a year. Meredith explores helping clients deal with relationship struggles as well that tend to arise during the holiday season. They also discussed missed appointments and "crisis" management that can arise due to chronically missed appointments or cancellations. 

Meredith and Jill address how to incorporate, address and discuss faith or religious based practices when working with clients in eating disorders recovery. Both nutrition counseling and therapy are both important areas to address often controversial practices when a client is working on their eating disorder recovery. Where do you start? How do you address practices that are often "covered up" eating disorder behavior without offending a clients faith and faith practices? You will hear both how the dietitian and therapist can both be important avenues and of course the importance of collaboration as a team. 

Meredith and Jill review and talk about keeping boundaries with clients and yourself. Because most in the the field of eating disorders are care givers, it is easy to allow clients to overstep your boundaries. This can involve over scheduling yourself because the client states they only have a specific date and time they can be seen. This might also involve a client wanting to give you a gift, say around the holiday times. How do you handle these situations? As always, seek supervision if you feel you might need more guidance in this area. 

With scope of practice boundaries, dietitians and therapists at times "cross over" to the other's area of expertise. We call this boundary a "white picket" fence. Dietitians may talk about skill work to enhance what the therapist reviews in session and a therapist may gently talk about meal planning concepts. Meredith and Jill strongly believe that to be a well rounded clinician one must "learn outside" their typical practice area. This allows each clinician to enhance each other's work with the client. Be careful though of going outside of scope of practice boundaries. 

Meredith and Jill review how to treat clients that struggle with Orthorexia vs traditional "anorexia." Often these clients are more concerned about the health aspects of food (causing a low intake of food and reduction in body weight) and their body composition (fat vs muscle) and may be less concerned about how much they weigh. What does the presentation feel like? How might your interventions look differently? What is the role of the dietitian vs the therapist in the treatment of these clients? Listen on!

Meredith and Jill review various concepts of starting and running groups. Groups in the eating disorders field are typically support groups, process groups or educational groups. Groups can be all three concepts as well. Reviewing how groups are formed, expectations, benefits, and difficulties are all reviewed. Groups are a powerful way to provide connection to clients, to see your client in a different "light" and can also be a more affordable option that just individual nutrition or therapy sessions. Thinking about starting a group? Listen on as Jill and Meredith review aspects to think about that may be helpful and their own experiences running groups. 

Meredith and Jill spend a little time expressing gratitude for the comments, support and reaching distances far, far away!

Thank you for listening!

Thank you for your support!

Also Meredith and Jill will be in Denver Colorado for Eating Recovery Centers Annual Conference. We hope to see you there!