Casa Serena Eating Disorders Program
EDRS in collaboration with APTED and Casa Serena IOP presents an Eating     
Disorders Awareness Fund Raising Event

Building a Bridge of Compassion: The Heart of Recovery

                                   February 4, 5 and 6, 2010

           Lucchesi Community Center in Petaluma, California

  We are pleased to present a two day conference on February 5th and 6th and
a Pre-conference screening of America the Beautiful on February 4th.  The
primary focus of the conference is exploring the role of compassion in the
recovery process, as it applies to individuals as well as their family members and
their treatment providers.  
 This is a fund raising event for the EDRS Treatment Scholarship Fund to
benefit individuals who are in need of financial assistance for treatment.

                               Thursday Evening 6-9 pm

       The movie screening of America the Beautiful is followed by a panel
discussion moderated by Haleh Kashani, Ph.D. and Michelle Minero, MFT along
with college students and other community members discussing ways to
empower all of us to fight the negative media messages around our bodies and
our selves. This is followed by a social hour.

                                         Friday  9-5 pm

9:00 – 9:15 Welcoming and Introductions

9:15-10:00 Keynote
Presenter: Haleh Kashani, Ph.D.:  The Art and Science of Self Compassion: The
Heart of Recovery  

  This presentation will review the latest discoveries in evolutionary approaches
to emotions, discuss the research findings on self-compassion and other
positive emotions on psychological well being and introduces tools and
techniques for self-compassion training in recovery from eating disorders.

10:00-11:15
Presenter: Elizabeth Scott, LCSW: THE BODY POSITIVE’S INTUITIVE HEALTH
MODEL: Exploring an Empowering Approach to Treating Weight and Eating
Problems

   This workshop will introduce participants to the Body Positive Intuitive Health™
Model which was developed with the intention of helping people of all shapes
and sizes achieve a sustainable, healthy lifestyle while creating positive
relationships with their bodies, food, and exercise. The Intuitive Health™ Model
is based on four core competencies: Exploration, Practice, Mindfulness, and
Connection. In this workshop we will explore the core competencies of
Mindfulness and Connection. With Mindfulness training, individuals become
more aware of their critical voices and begin to cultivate self love and a
respectful relationship to their bodies. The final core competency, Connection,
reaches the heart. The purpose here is to create communities in which we
support one another in choosing to love and honor our unique bodies, therefore
expanding our potential to create positive change in our own lives and in the
world.


11:15-11:30 Break


Choose One:

11:30-12:45  Workshop 1
Presenter: Jackie Holmes, MFT, Recovery, Relapse and Recurrence in ED
Treatment

  The path of healing from eating disorders is not a straight line.  Every clinician
needs to develop a compassionate understanding of the phases of recovery.  
This presentation will address various definitions of recovery, techniques for
helping the client deal with relapsing or “slipping” as well as looking at
recurrence as a component of the overall healing process.  
 The goals of the class are to help professionals and lay people to develop an
understanding that recovery includes relapsing as a learning tool and not a sign
of failure. A two day conference conducted for professionals working with eating
disorders as well as community members. I will also seek to help clarify some of
the reasons for recurrence and how to help clients be more compassionate with
themselves when they hit these places on their path of healing.  Using research
information and stories from my own client base I will discuss how recovery,
relapse and recurrence are vital aspects of the overall healing process.

OR

11:30-12:45 Workshop 2
Presenter: Michelle Minero, MFT: Your body is a Bridge for Healing.

This workshop will introduce the concept and practice of the mindful use of your
own body in therapy as an essential component to your client’s ability to access
and heal their relationship with their body. As therapists working with eating
disordered clients, our biggest challenge after helping them refrain from
disordered behaviors, is to engender body love. To facilitate a positive body
image, and body love to our clients, we must “practice what we preach” in order
to be a bridge for their healing. You are the bridge to self love for your clients.
In this workshop you will experience the healing power of body love, forgiveness,
and body gratitude scans. You will leave with a template for a body love practice
through the use of writing, visualization, Chi Movement, dialogue with your body,
and sharing in a confidential, sacred environment.  These tools and strategies
can be taught to your clients in session, and become their body love practice.


                         LUNCH ON YOUR OWN—12:45-1:45


Choose One:

1:45-3:15 Workshop 3
Presenter: Barbara Birsinger, MPH, RD: The Intuitive Body: Seven Interactive
Steps to Integrate Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit in ED Recovery:

          The Seven Steps, each with an experiential learning component,
emphasize restoring balance along the full continuum of eating and weight
issues, preventing weight cycling or rebounding from one eating and weight
concern to another. Decoding the Symbolic Meaning in Hungers, Food
Cravings, and Body Talk, a process developed by the presenter, reveals
unwanted feelings and unmet intrinsic needs rooted in disordered eating
thoughts and behaviors.  Through self-discovery, the client quickly learns how to
satisfy his/her physical, emotional or spiritual needs. Experiential activities and
case studies will be explored.

OR

1:45-3:15 Workshop 4
Presenter: Melissa Rocchi, MAAT, LCPC, ATR: Befriending the Body: Using the
Creative Process in Regaining a Sense of Self

   This experiential workshop will define the creative process. Examples of group
activities using the creative process with eating disorder clients will be given.
Participants will engage in art and dance/movement experiential exercises
focusing on regaining a sense of self, following by verbal processing. The
session will conclude with discussion on how to apply the creative process into
individual work with eating disordered clients.

3:15-3:30 Break


Choose One:

3:30-5:00 Workshop 5
Presenter: Patricia Ravitz, MFT: Treating Binge Eating Disorder: What Works &
What Doesn't

  In this workshop we will explore the connection between the obesity epidemic,
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and our dieting culture. We will discuss the
components of successful treatment of BED, and the dangers of using diets as
part of treatment.  You will learn how to use the Intuitive Eating model in
treatment, along with how to incorporate eating awareness exercises into
individual & group sessions.  We will also discuss how to weave family of origin
and relationship issues into treatment and I will introduce you to several tools I
have found useful in helping clients make connections between their struggles
with food & weight and their blocked emotions. We will use the article “Binge
Eating Disorder: Dangerous, Deadly & Ignored”

OR

3:30-5:00 Workshop 6
Presenter: Linda Shanti McCabe, MA, PsyD: Re-Image-in-ing the Body; Re-
Image-in-ing the Self: An Expressive Arts Presentation/workshop in Re- Image-
in-ing the body

   In this presentation we will be exploring how somatically oriented expressive
arts (movement, meditation, drawing, and writing) can bring forth the body’s self
healing.  Women in this culture and especially women with eating disorders and
body image distortion are subtly and overtly taught to dissociate from and self-
objectify their bodies. Cognitive Behavioral psychology stays in the realm of
verbal therapy when facilitating recovery, which often does not heal the
nonverbal wounding in women who have lost an internal felt-sense of their body.
By incorporating somatic felt-sense and expressive art images into healing,
women can regain a connection with their body-self that is often bypassed in
other psychological orientations.  Traveling through the body (feet, legs,
mask/unmask, heart, stomach, pelvis, spine, and full body portrait) with an
expressive arts slide show of artwork created by women recovering from eating
disorders/body image distortion, we will explore what it means to be aware of the
body’s felt-experience, re-image-in-ing its self from the inside out.

                         
                                        Saturday 9-5 pm

9:00-9:15 Welcoming and Introductions

9:15-10:00
Presenter: Haleh Kashani, PhD:  The “Healthy Family” model to childhood
obesity treatment and prevention: An alternative to weight-focused programs

  This presentation will examine the variables that contribute to childhood
obesity. We will review the current research on treatment and prevention of
childhood obesity and introduce the “Healthy Family” model: a family-based,
parent-training program aimed at creating healthy environment for the family as
a whole.

10:00-11:15
Presenters: Lauralee Roark, MA and Carol Normandi, MFT: Moving Beyond
Hunger

Moving beyond hunger is the ability to understand our physical, emotional and
spiritual hungers and to satisfy them. This workshop will discuss the 10
principles that define the Beyond Hunger philosophy, which was created to help
individuals recover from disordered eating and body hatred. Through interactive
discussions and experiential exercises, Carol and Laurelee will explore how to 1)
lay the foundation for recovery using compassion and non-judgmental
observation; 2) integrate intuitive eating, emotional wisdom and body
acceptance into the recovery process and 3) create a framework for the
recovery process. The workshop will explain how to integrate the principles into
participants’ personal and professional lives and is beneficial to those struggling
with food and body image as well as those working in the professional
community.

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:45  
Presenter: Veronica Benjamin, Registered Dietitian: The Recovery Journey: A
Nutrition Perspective

   This workshop will discuss the varying indicators of recovery from a nutrition
perspective (including food issues, eating behaviors and body image criteria).  
We will examine the process of recovery: length of time, the ups and downs of
recovery and how one changes their belief system, thought process and
behaviors.  We will also explore the unique ways a Registered Dietitian/Nutrition
Therapist can support the client and their families.

                         LUNCH ON YOUR OWN—12:45-1:45

Choose One:

1:45-3:15 Workshop 1
Presenter: Cat Meehan, CIC, MA Candidate: Art Cards and Journey Maps;
Creating New Paths to recovery for Individuals, Parents and Care givers.

  Using intuitive art process, guided imagery and your own deep knowing you
can find and create a new path toward recovery and reclaiming wellness in Art
Cards and Journey Maps, both include simple, enjoyable collage and intuitive
writing.  Eating Disorders and illness often erode the sense of self of an
individual, as well as that of family members and support people.  Art as Healing
is a useful bridge to deeper understanding and helps to assist traditional
therapies and treatment through inclusion of personal reflection, connection,
creation, intention and use of powerful imagery.  Art is a bridge to compassion
and aids in communication for all individuals affected by illness.  Sharing ones
own vision and witnessing another’s art provides a powerful tool for non-verbal
communication and transformation that is invaluable to healing..

OR


1:45 – 2:30 Workshop 2
Presenter: Doris Smeltzer, M.A., Andrea’s Voice Foundation President:
A Mother’s Perspective and What My Daughter Taught ME.

   This presentation is an honest testimonial of a mother’s journey and her own
awakening during her daughter’s struggle with an eating disorder. This is a very
real look at the tragedy of eating disorders and the toll it takes on the family.   
This presentation also provides a message of hope and possibilities.
     
2:30 – 3:15 Workshop 3
Presenter:  Jackie Holmes, MFT: Compassionate Recovery: What I Learned
about Myself on the Path

      This presentation will explore the path of recovery, which includes, relapsing
and recurrence of the eating disorder, as an opportunity for growth and
learning.  Told from the perspective of a professional person who has struggled
with an eating disorder and through the use of compassion practice has been
able to heal from bulimia.

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-4:30   Conversations on healing and recovery moderated by Jackie
Holmes, MFT, Casa Serena IOP Director, Doris Smeltzer, President of Andrea’s
Voice Foundation and Deborah Brenner-Liss, Ph.D., APTED President along
with individuals in recovery and family members they discuss the value of
compassionate connections in the overall healing process.   

Conference Information:

When:      Hours:  Thursday 6-9 pm February 4th
                          Friday 9-5 pm February 5th
                          Saturday 9 -5 pm February 6th

Where:     Lucchesi Community Center
             320 N. McDowell Blvd.
             Petaluma, CA

This is a donation only event for professionals and the general public.  
All proceeds go the EDRS Scholarship Fund.

CEU Information:

This conference will also provide a total of 15 CEUs for professionals (MFT and
LCSW only) at a discounted rate.  The fee for Thursday for 3 CEUs is $30   and
for Friday and Saturday the fee for 6 CEUs each day is $75 per day. Work
Scholarships available.


We request Pre-Registration or RSVP.  Please Contact Casa Serena IOP
at (925) 682-8252 or email directly to info@casaserenaedp.com
EDRS Conference