Eating disorders (EDs): What every clinician needs to know

Registrants will receive a link to the on-demand training in December 2023 and will have access to it for 60 days. Participants will be required to complete a quiz following the training in order to receive a Certificate of Participation.

Please note: This on-demand training is a recommended prerequisite for the Certificate in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for eating disorders program. If you are interested in a comprehensive certificate program, please click the link for more information.

This training is suitable for:
This is an introductory course designed for all health-care practitioners who plan to, or are working in, the eating disorder field. While this will serve as core foundational training, due to the rapid evolution of knowledge in the field, this course can also be used as a refresher for anyone who has not had up-to-date training.

Description:
The demand for eating disorder (ED) treatment has never been greater. Over the course of the pandemic, the number of people suffering from an ED and seeking professional help has increased substantially. Waiting lists for hospital programming and for private eating disorder centres are exceptionally long. Chronic in nature, highly debilitating and associated with extremely high mortality rates; eating disorders can’t afford to wait. Given the severity and the sheer demand for services, it is reasonable to expect that health-care practitioners will have a lot of patients and clients with EDs. Stigma, misconceptions, and a lack of clinical resources continue to impede early detection, proper assessment, and necessary treatment. Signs and symptoms are often missed. Thus, it is imperative that all clinicians have foundational knowledge to aid in prevention, early detection, and foundational treatment interventions.

This practical on-demand workshop provides health-care providers with foundational training in eating disorders. Participants can expect a focus on the latest clinical research on causal and maintaining factors, assessment guidelines, and foundational psychoeducation to improve early detection, treatment, and referral when needed.

Learning objectives:

• Identify and distinguish core features across 7 types of eating disorders
• Assess symptoms using standard measures
• Describe unique neurobiological and environmental underpinnings that cause and maintain eating disorders
• Develop awareness to monitor common physical and emotional consequences 
• Assist clients in developing a non-dieting, mechanical meal plan
• Describe the pros and cons of weighing clients
• Identify weight bias and stigma, and how to provide trauma-informed ED care

Modules (CE: 13.5 hours):

1. What are eating disorders: Myths, misconceptions, and diagnostic criteria (90 mins)
2. Assessment tools (30 mins)
3. Causes and maintaining factors: The latest in neuroscience and environment (120 mins)
4. Medications and EDs: The role of the psychiatrist (60 mins)
5. How EDs impact brain and body (90 mins)
6. Trauma-informed ED treatment + weight science (210 mins)
7. To weigh or not to weigh (60 mins)
8. Feeding and meal planning: The non-dieting approach (90 mins)
9. Treatment options: An overview of the evidence and levels of care (60 mins)