Academy for Eating Disorders

Reflecting on the 2015 International Conference on Eating Disorders

Andrea 14 Comments

When I get back from conferences I always have this odd mix of elation and overwhelmedness. This is never more acute than when I return home from an eating disorder conference. I get back to my apartment, flop down on my couch, and revel in the silence- while stewing in my mind about everything that happened, how to make sense of it, and where to go from here.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time to really digest (apparently I can’t write about eating disorders without inadvertently using food or bodily metaphors!) all that went on. So, I appreciate your patience in waiting for this post. In case you don’t follow my incessant Tweeting, last week I was at the International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED). Last year, I had my Science of Eds partner in crime with me, and the year before that she went solo (recaps here and … Continue reading →

Reflecting on the 2014 International Conference on Eating Disorders

Andrea 1 Comment

Tetyana’s Note: Instead of writing two separate posts, I’ve decided to interject and add my own thoughts/opinions to Andrea’s post. For one, I think this will reduce repetition and I think it will be better to have any differing opinions in one place (I think this will facilitate discussion, I hope).  I will clearly mark my own comments so that they are not for conflated with Andrea’s. If I don’t comment it is because I wasn’t there, have nothing to add, or completely agree and thus have nothing/little to add. Admittedly, I’m going to focus more on things I didn’t like because I think it is important to talk about how the field can improve. – Tetyana

I am finally writing down some thoughts and reflections from ICED after taking a week to marinate on the proceedings and to grade a lot of papers. I love going to conferences — … Continue reading →

International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) 2013: Personal Reflections

Tetyana 29 Comments

The 2013 International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) ended on May 4th. I thought I’d reflect on the experience (short version: it was awesome and I’m so glad I went!). Please note, the following is in no way comprehensive, representative, or scientific.

There were a lot of overlapping events at the conference, which meant that I could only attend a fraction of the events. I highlighted in yellow the workshops/panels/presentations I attended.

In his keynote speech, Dr. David Barlow wondered whether we are “missing the forest for the trees” as he highlighted some of the changes in the upcoming DSM-V (more disorders, more categories, more, as he said, ‘splitting’). Many disorders in the DSM-IV have the same underlying characteristics: high trait anxiety, neuroticism, negative affect, and emotional avoidance. Those of us with eating disorders tend to have difficulties recognizing and experiencing emotions—not just negative emotions, but all kinds of … Continue reading →

Lifetime Prevalence of Eating Disorders Among Eating Disorder Professionals

Tetyana 15 Comments

How many professionals that treat eating disorders have a personal history of struggling with an eating disorder? It is a crucial question to ask (and answer) because there are important implications for patient treatment and for the health of the afflicted professionals. It is true that many (or most?) individuals who go into mental health do so because of personal experiences–whether due to their own personal history or the experiences of a loved one–so it is useful to ask, just how common are eating disorders among ED treatment professionals?

This is the question that Nicole Barbarich asked in a survey mailed to 823 members of the Academy for Eating Disorders.

Barbarich developed a 14-item self-report questionnaire that assessed everything from basic demographics to personal eating disorder history and their employer’s hiring policies. Out of 823 potential participants, 399 completed the questionnaire.

SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

Demographics of Survey Responders… Continue reading →