Whitney Russell MS, LPC-S, CEDS-S

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.bravehavencounseling.com

Instagram: @whitneylpc

What is your current position?

I have two professional hats that I wear right now. I have a therapy practice in Richardson, TX called Brave Haven Counseling where I specialize in eating disorders, addictions, mood and anxiety, women’s issues, relationship difficulties, and the enneagram. My services include individual and family therapy, telehealth sessions, consultation, and supervision. It is one of my missions in life to give my clients and my supervises a safe space where they can do difficult and hard work. My favorite part about being a therapist is establishing relationships with my clients where I am able to help them to see what they have been missing about themselves all along- that they are powerful beings worthy of great love, belonging, and connection. Having my LPC-S and my CEDS-S allows me to guide the next generation of practitioners and it is a very rewarding aspect of my practice. 

Along with having my private practice, I am also the Regional Director for Center For Discovery in Texas and Illinois. I oversee the operational and clinical divisions for all of the residential facilities and outpatient locations in both of these states. I offer guidance and support to the leaders of these programs daily. It is my hope to empower these leaders to be their authentic selves as well as establish safe spaces for their clients and employees. 

How did you get started in your career?

I have always been interested in eating disorders. Growing up in our society it is very difficult to not be a victim of diet culture and feel like you always need to be perfecting your body, eating the right foods, and crafting an image. After I became fully licensed while working at the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center, I seized an opportunity in 2011 to be a primary therapist at an outpatient facility for eating disorders and never looked back. The belief systems we cultivate in our clients around body image, food, self-care, authenticity, and courage have really become a part of my own identity and I have so much gratitude for this work. 

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Be ready to examine your own thoughts and beliefs about the world. Being effective in the world of eating disorders means that you have to “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk”. Examining how you interact with and participate in diet culture is the first step. 

Upcoming Workshop Information – October 18, 2019

Website: www.Kaloncollective.com

1) Kena Watson, LPA

What is your current position?

I am the administrator for Kalon Collective LLC and a psychologist in private practice. I am the first point of contact for new clients seeking services.

How did you get started in your career?

I gained insight into the need for Kalon Collective LLC’s services through my work as a direct care staff member and then a therapist at an eating disorder treatment facility. It was through aftercare planning for my individual clients that I saw that there was a gap in outpatient resources, especially for accountability and education in preparing and cooking meals or even having meals alone, with friends or on the job. Kalon Collective LLC was started to fill those gaps and further promote clients in their recovery.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Self-care, self-care, self-care! No one is immune to negative self-talk and/or poor relationships with food and body (including mental health professionals). Be sure you are taking time for yourself as you hold space for your clients.

2) Jennifer Murphy

What is your current position?

I am the Culinary Consultant for Kalon Collective LLC.

How did you get started in your career?

I started my work with folks in eating disorder recovery employed at an eating disorder treatment facility, where I obtained my experience through various roles in direct patient care. Throughout the years of working for this facility I moved into the role of Culinary Director at one of the two locations. It was in this role that I saw how effective one on one interactions, challenges and education in the kitchen were for the patients there. This insight led my partners and I to form Kalon Collective LLC as an outpatient resource, providing again the one on one care that people might have not received during their time in treatment.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Keep an open mind, be patient, try to put yourself in your client’s shoes, and be yourself. Remember that you are planting a seed in someone’s life and even if you see the fruits of your labor or not, you are still making a significant impact.  

3) Sara Riggs MSW, LCSW

What is your current position?

I oversee the marketing and social media for Kalon Collective LLC and am a licensed clinical social worker in private practice.

How did you get started in your career?

I first found my way into helping folks with eating disorders after undergrad, working as an administrator at an outpatient eating disorder center. From there I moved into a direct care staff role at a different eating disorder facility, and then was offered a therapist position once I graduated with my master’s degree at that same facility. I worked full time as a therapist until fully licensed as a clinical social worker and then began my yearlong transition to outpatient, while building Kalon Collective LLC with Jennifer and Kena. Our combined, unique experiences allowed us to see what was missing in the eating disorder recovery community and generally in the world of effective health and wellness practices.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Find a good supervisor and network/group to consult and work with. I felt incredibly lucky and appreciative to work with some really talented, supportive, generous and compassion folks over the years either as supervisors or as colleagues. You can learn a lot from working side by side with people, as well as offer and receive true support from others who are doing similar work. Kalon Collective LLC wouldn’t have been created or what it is today without the support from many awesome folks in our community and field.

Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED

Founder & Medical Director of the Gaudiani Clinic

Website: www.gaudianiclinic.com

Book Website: www.sickenough.com

What is your current position?

I am an internal medicine physician expert in the medical complications of eating disorders and disordered eating and also provide focused primary care for my patients. While fortunately there are many excellent dietitians and therapists who specialize in eating disorder treatment, and also many good programs around the country that can provide day treatment or even residential care for those with eating disorders, there are very few medical doctors who specialize in what happens to the body. That’s a problem, because oftentimes either the eating disorder causes medical problems (for instance digestive problems) that actually get in the way of recovery efforts, or the patient has other medical conditions that are harder to diagnose that get in the way of recovery work. I founded the Gaudiani Clinic in 2016 as the first internal medicine outpatient clinic in the United States that focuses exclusively on the medical care of people with eating disorders, of all ages, genders, and body shapes and sizes. We care for patients around the country through our use of telemedicine services, and I get to partner with wonderful dietitians and therapists in my patients’ hometowns in order to provide a truly comprehensive care team. The Gaudiani Clinic was founded to support individuals, their families, and their care teams. In addition, through consultation, podcasting, webinars, lectures both nationally and internationally, and the publication of my first book in 2018 (Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders (Routledge)), the Clinic aims to improve the quality of medical care of those with eating disorders for as many people as possible. 

How did you get started in your career?

I got my undergraduate degree in English at Harvard, did my medical school training at Boston University, and completed my internal medicine residency and chief residency at Yale. Having had a family member recover from an eating disorder, I’ve experienced the fear and hope of a family member and also borne witness to the triumph of a full recovery. When I got to Denver in 2007, I joined the Hospitalist staff at Denver Health. A year into my employment, I had the opportunity to join a service within Denver Health that was the highest level of multidisciplinary internal medicine care in the country for adults whose anorexia nervosa had become so critical that they could not receive anywhere else. Over the following eight years, I helped grow and run this service, in the process falling in love with this branch of medicine and having the extraordinary fortune to be mentored and encouraged by many of the founding members of the field. I particularly benefitted from the support and energy of a number of the wise women in the field who had been doing this work, writing about it, lecturing about it, and bringing their vital feminist perspective to it for decades. Given that there are so few internists who specialize in eating disorders, it proved to be a fortunate niche for me, and feel grateful every single day that I get to care for patients, think about how care can be improved across the board, and help to lift up and mentor other young women.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

I would encourage anyone new to the eating disorder community to seek out opportunities to learn at every turn…and to never stop learning! This is especially true for medical professionals who often don’t receive any training on eating disorders. My own learning trajectory continues with soaking up all that I can about Health At Every Size-informed medical care, how privilege and social justice relates to the development and sustainment of eating disorders, and how weight stigma perpetuates poor medical care and suffering for people of all shapes and sizes, in particular for individuals in larger bodies. 

Sick Enough

Purchase Here

Signe Darpinian, LMFT, CEDS-S

Website: www.signedarpinian.com

Book: www.signedarpinian.com/no-weigh

Instagram: @noweighguide

Podcast interviews: www.signedarpinian.com/speaking-events

Short Bio: 

Signe Darpinian is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist iaedp™ Approved Supervisor (CEDS-S). She is also a public speaker and a co-author of No Weigh! A Teen’s Guide to Positive Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom with Jessica Kingsley Publishers in London. Signe has been treating eating disorders for over 15 years and has private practice offices in two California locations: The Central Valley  and The SF Bay Area. She is also the President of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals SF Bay Area Chapter and she serves on The Body Positive Partnership Council.

What is your current position? 

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist iaedp™ Approved Supervisor (CEDS-S) in private practice. I have offices in two California locations: The Central Valley  and The SF Bay Area. I am also a co-author No Weigh! A Teen’s Guide to Positive Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom with Jessica Kingsley Publishers in London, as well as the current President of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals SF Bay Area Chapter.

How did you get started in your career? 

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a therapist. I have to admit that I didn’t truly know what that meant until I started to do my personal growth work with my own therapist. As an intern, I worked as a School Based Mental Health Clinician, and while I loved working with a team at a school site, it wasn’t the population I wanted to be working with. I wondered if maybe I made the wrong career choice, and around that time is when I discovered the field of eating disorders. My colleague’s daughter had been experiencing medical complications that, at the time, no one understood (approximately the year 2000). She later found out the complications were the medical consequences of Bulimia Nervosa. Eating disorders were supposedly in our “scope of practice,” but neither of us remember this being covered, at any length, in grad school. We turned to the non-profit we worked for at the time, and asked if they would consider sending us to some national eating disorder conferences. They responded to us and made it possible to attend our very first NEDA and iaedp™ conferences. This was the beginning of our work in the field of eating disorders, and we have been treating them ever since. 

What advice would you give to someone new to the field? 

If a clinician finds that they have an interest in the field of eating disorders, I would advise initiating the process of  iaedp™ Certification early on (CEDS, CEDRD, CEDCAT, or CEDRN): www.iaedp.com/certification-overview/. Certification promotes a standard of excellence within the field of eating disorders and a commitment to stay abreast of current developments in the field through continuing education. 

Beth Harrell, MS, RD, LD, CEDRD-S

What is your current position? 

Director of Certification for iaedp (International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals) and private practice.

How did you get started in your career? 

Completely by accident.  I was working as clinical dietitian at an area hospital and had just come back from maternity leave.  I realized I didn’t want to be away from my new baby full time.  A part-time RD opening came about at an inpatient hospital for eating disorders.  I was one of several who had applied (none of us had experience with eating disorders back in the early 90s because it was such a new field and very little was taught in school).

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

1. Start supervision as soon as you know you are interested in pursuing a career in eating disorders (and never stop!  Peer supervision is invaluable throughout your career).
2. If you have struggled with an eating disorder or disordered eating, ensure that you’ve worked through issues you have had about food, weight, and exercise so you are strong for your client. 
3. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate – Always work with a therapist and medical provider for diagnosed eating disorders.

Karen Wetherall, MS, RDN, LDN

Director, Dietetic Internship, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Owner & President, Tranquil Eating Associates

How did you get started in your career?

In high school I was interested in human biology and cooking.  I was also interested in teaching. I went off to college to study nutrition, then I completed a coordinated Masters-Dietetic Internship program in Boston to become an RD. I was most interested in outpatient counseling, and I obtained a WIC job at Mass General Hospital’s (MGH) Chelsea Clinic. This expanded into counseling adults for diabetes and cardiovascular issues. I noticed that most of my clients needed to lose weight, and they had behavioral issues surrounding their eating. A few years later I obtained a job at Children’s Hospital of Boston at the Judge Baker Center which was an inpatient unit for eating disorders (ED). This was where I began to be educated about working with EDs. Although I enjoyed this experience, it was a part-time job, so when the opportunity arose for a full-time job, I went to the main campus of MGH to work in the cardiac rehab clinic. My focus with these clients was on weight management through a heart-healthy diet. However, I also joined the ED team at MGH. Every Friday the ED team would do a full day intake with a client, and the following Friday the team of MDs, therapists and RDs would discuss treatment recommendations. I also saw clients for outpatient counseling including clients with EDs. The inpatient setting at Judge Baker, and the comprehensive team approach at MGH were incredibly valuable experiences which expanded my confidence and training in working effectively with clients with eating EDs. 

Fourteen years into my career my husband moved his business to east Tennessee, and I scoped the area for my next position. Having had the experience of teaching nutrition at the Preventive Medicine course at Harvard Medical School, my husband encouraged me to check out teaching possibilities at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. I felt fortunate to land a job as the Dietetic Internship Director. This job allowed me to join my two loves of nutrition and teaching. It has been such a pleasure to work with bright and energetic students/future RDNs. This was a part-time position, so I began a private consulting practice, Tranquil Eating Associates. There was a need in Knoxville for RDNs experienced with EDs, so my business has been steady with minimal marketing; primarily fed through relationships with therapists, MDs and other RDNs.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Read books, attend seminars and workshops, join BHN (Behavioral Health Nutrition), participate on their listserv, and get at least one mentor which includes an RDN for professional supervision. 

You can learn more about Karen at www.tranquileat.com