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

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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

Kayla Jessop, RDN, CDN, CEDRD-S

Website: www.kaylajessopnutrition.com/

Instagram: @kaylajessopnutrition

What is your current position?

I am the owner of Kayla Jessop Nutrition. I primarily do individual nutrition therapy, meal support, supervision, and run RO DBT skill classes.  

How did you get started in your career?

I started working in outpatient counseling where I helped individuals using medical nutrition therapy. Occasionally, I saw people with disordered eating and eating disorders and found that I preferred working with this population. Watching the healing process of their relationship to food and body is a very rewarding experience. After I found my interest in eating disorders, I sought out BALANCE Eating Disorder Treatment Center where I eventually became the Lead Dietitian over the PHP, IOP, and outpatient levels of care. BALANCE also gave me the opportunity to learn and co-facilite Radically Open DBT skills class. From there, I launched my private practice and completed the intensive training in RO DBT. 

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

Seek out supervision! I am very grateful for the supervision I received, as it has not only helped me therapeutically, it has greatly impacted the well-being of my clients. Supervision has shaped me to the dietitian I am today. Thank you Jessica Setnick for being my fearless leader and supervisor!

Dr. Lelwica is Professor of Religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where she teaches courses on the intersection of religion, gender, culture, and the body. She did her graduate work at Harvard Divinity School, where she received a Masters of Theological Studies in Christianity and Culture (1989) and a Doctorate of Theology in Religion Gender and Culture (1996). She is the author of Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement (Bloomsbury, 2017), The Religion of Thinness: Satisfying the Spiritual Hungers behind Women’s Obsession with Food and Weight (Gürze Press, 2009), and Starving for Salvation: The Spiritual Dimensions of Eating Problems among American Girls and Women (Oxford University Press, 1999), as well as scholarly articles, popular blogs, and podcast interviews that explore women’s conflicted relationships with their bodies. She has also published articles and taught courses that focus on mindfulness practice and social justice. 

How did you get started in your career?

I started studying the religious and spiritual dimensions of eating disorders and related problems as a graduate student of religion at Harvard Divinity School. I was deeply disturbed to discover the negative attitudes towards female bodies that are prevalent in traditional Christian theology, and I began to recognize the parallels between the patriarchal aspects of this tradition and the images, myths, rituals, beliefs, and morality surrounding contemporary women’s pursuit of thinness. This recognition led to the writing of my dissertation on the religious dimensions of eating and body image problems, which became my first book (Starving for Salvation). My second book, (The Religion of Thinness) challenges American culture’s devotion to female thinness and is written for a broader (i.e., non-academic) audience. My most recent book, Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement, builds on my previous work on eating and body images problems to analyze a wider range of issues that often produce body shame, including (dis)ability, chronic pain and illness, and aging, as well as weight.

What advice do you have for someone new to the field? 

Stay open to a complex and integrative perspective on body image and eating problems—one that explores their spiritual dimensions and that thinks critically about the cultural underpinnings of these problems. This openness will foster an understanding of eating disorders as responses to human suffering that tragically create more suffering. Such an understanding fosters the compassion that is necessary for the process of healing. I urge new professionals in the field of eating disorders to investigate the spiritual needs that obsessions with food and weight thinly veil, and I would encourage them to define “spiritual needs” very broadly (i.e., in non-sectarian terms), including the need for a sense of purpose, love, inspiration, courage, community, agency, and peace.