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