Eating Recovery Center

Prepare for an incredible experience at our upcoming annual conferences on eating disorders and mental health! 🤩 Join more than 1,000 of your colleagues to explore the future of behavioral health while gaining critical skills to apply to your practice. Here's a preview of topics we're covering... 👉 Radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RODBT) for anxiety 👉 GLP1s, binge eating disorder and the bariatric community 👉 The impact of GLP1 messaging in the African-American community 👉 Ethical treatment at higher levels of care 👉 Exercise integration at all levels of care In case you’re not convinced yet, here are a few more reasons to attend: 💻 Participate from anywhere 💻 Our 100% virtual format eliminates travel costs and saves time. 📚 Learn the latest 📚 Explore trending topics vital to all mental health clinicians in 2024. 💙 Build your community 💙 Engage with respected, trusted peers from across the nation 🗣 Speak your mind 🗣 Interact through live chats and Q&A sessions. 🔍 Explore challenging cases 🔍 Attend clinical consultations and get one-on-one guidance. Sign up now to take advantage of our advanced early bird pricing: https://bit.ly/3yn0Twz #ERCConference

Being a teenager has *never* been easy. But the stresses teens face today are arguably more intense than ever before. 😮💨 From unprecedented pressure around academic and athletic performance to navigating relationships both at school and online, today’s teens have a lot on their minds. One result of these modern stresses? A rise in teen eating disorders. Head to our latest blog to learn more about eating disorders in teens: https://bit.ly/3RuszpJ

On the surface, gastrointestinal disorders and eating disorders share many things in common. They can both cause physical symptoms like cramping, bloating and sharp stomach pain. They also may create feelings of anxiety when eating certain foods — or when eating almost anything. For these reasons, the relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) disorders conditions and eating disorders is complicated. While many clinical studies have explored the effects of eating disorders on the GI tract, less is known about the way GI disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and celiac disease can trigger eating disorders. In our latest blog, we're covering: emerging research on GI disorders, how to untangle the symptoms of GI disorders and eating disorders when it feels like something is off, and what our experts recommend. Read on here: https://bit.ly/3RyD6jT

Elizabeth Wassenaar, MS MD, our Regional Medical Director, was recently featured in this Psychiatric Times article examining the comorbidity of eating disorders and addiction and the potential impact of complexity using GLP-1 agonist medications in treatment. "GLP-1 receptor agonists work in the brain to suppress appetite and increase feelings of fullness, which is how they act for individuals who take them to manage their type 2 diabetes. We are beginning to notice patients who are vulnerable to disordered eating and/or relapse of their eating disorder following the initiation of GLP-1 receptor agonist medications." Read more of her insights here: https://bit.ly/3zufW84

"Healing isn't about perfection; it's about progress and making small steps that add up to monumental victories that showcase the strength, courage, and resilience we harbor on our recovery journeys." Love these words from our Say It Brave Member, Chris Henrie.

Dr. Deborah Michel, our National Clinical Director of Virtual Care, was recently featured in a CW39 Houston segment about eating disorders in men. She discusses the rise in eating disorders among men, the stigma surrounding these diagnoses for this population, knowing the signs of an eating disorder, and how to access help. Watch the full clip here: https://bit.ly/3YfmcLx

Whether it comes from a caregiver, teacher or friend, many can remember the first time a loved one commented on their body or the food they were eating. Unfortunately, these words can have a long-term effect on one’s self-image and eating habits. When the topic of adolescence comes up, it’s easy to recall the impact these food and body comments had. Children and adolescents are observant and perceptive, often modeling the behavior of adults in their lives to guide their own choices. While we’d like to believe that society is moving toward more acceptance and celebration of diverse body types, for many kids, and even adults, social media pressures are real. Additionally, many caregivers might still be suffering from poor body image brought on by decades of diet industry messaging and marketing. Adults and caregivers need to continuously communicate to children that the way we look is only one part of who we are. Keeping this in mind, they can serve as positive role models in their own behaviors around food and body image, both in person and on social media. It’s important for caregivers to examine their own attitudes, beliefs, prejudices and behaviors about food, weight, body image, physical appearance, health and exercise. What’s even more important overall is that caregivers “own it” (i.e., recognize and acknowledge) when they are not modeling this — and make a proactive effort to change their own beliefs and behaviors. Here are some examples of unhelpful statements that caregivers sometimes make in front of their kids and the lasting impact such statements can have. More on this topic here: https://bit.ly/3yuMWNa

In honor of #BIPOCMentalHealthAwarenessMonth, we're taking a moment to highlight one of our amazing nonprofit partners that works tirelessly to support initiatives and programs that increase access to culturally relevant mental health and wellness resources, therapy, and training experiences for the Black community. Learn more about Black Mental Wellness, Corp. below!👇

Our Mental Health Advocate, Shannon Kopp, teamed up with HAPPINESS ON 4 HOOVES and Hooves and Paws Pet Therapy Crisis and Responses to be at our booth at the ARHE Conference yesterday. They were a big hit! 🐾

Our team had an amazing experience at the Higher Education Case Managers Association (HECMA) Conference last week! Our Director of Telehealth Development, Casey Tallent, Ph.D., delivered an insightful presentation to a packed room of college and university case managers, discussing strategies for advocating for students with eating disorders.