An Intensive on Eating Disorders on College Campuses, Cambridge Eating Disorder Center
Ruth Elliott, LICSW
June 25, 2019 – 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Target audience: Social Workers, Psychologists, Nurses
Beginning Level, Intermediate Level, 4 CEs

Eating Disorder Identification, Triage and Treatment for College Students in Provider-Limited Areas

Eating disorders are complex medical and psychiatric illnesses that can have serious consequences for health, productivity and relationships. Onset of adolescence and the transition from home to college are common periods for eating disorders to appear in those who are susceptible. Some eating disorders are easy to identify but most are not. Discuss the newest DSM-5 eating disorder diagnoses, symptoms and psychological processes as well as how to assess the severity and match students with the appropriate level of treatment in a provider-limited setting.

Analyze the role of the treatment team, who should participate and why. Identify how to support relapse prevention and how to support clients in addressing family and the social dynamics of food and body image. Explore the evidence-based methods for working with eating disorder patients and getting them on the road to a full recovery in a provider-limited setting.

• Define eating disorders and symptoms
• Identify different psychological processes underlying different symptoms, ie binge, restriction, purging, etc.
• Discuss how to appropriately assess severity, and set-up process/policy to help students access appropriate levels of treatment, especially given the limits of a rural setting.
• Discuss when is the ideal time for us to recommend a leave from school and refer the client to intensive outpatient or inpatient services. When should a medical professional be involved in the treatment and what are the physical health risks?
• Discuss how to form treatment teams. This will include which professionals should be on those teams
• Identify support strategies that a student’s friends might employ when concerned about someone’s behavior.
• Discuss methods for supporting clients when they are trying to make positive changes in their relationship to food and peer groups that encourage disordered eating.
• Discuss relapse prevention.
• Discuss methods for supporting clients when addressing family dynamics around eating.
• Identify ways to help students maintain healthy behaviors when they have shifting environments such as college students? (moving between home and school)
• Identify effective treatment approaches when working with ED patients and accompanying rigid thinking? (we use DBT and Motivational interviewing) Identify when a support group is effective.
• Identify recommended treatment resources.