Come talk to me!

Thanks to Maudsley Parents and the University of Chicago for hosting an evening with Dr. Daniel le Grange and myself at University of Chicago on October 20th. This is your chance to meet up with other families who may have dealt with eating disorders, to learn from them, and, most important, to not feel isolated or alone.

This event is free, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Maudsley Parents, but you must RSVP to reserve a place: RSVP@maudsleyparents.org.

I hope to see you there!

San Diego Conference

I'm sitting in the San Diego Airport, having gotten here at an ungodly hour for my flight back to NY. But I don't mind, because yesterday's Maudsley Parents conference was a great success.

The conference sold out, and our room was packed with a dynamic mix of clinicians and families.
The always cerebral Dr. Walter Kaye opened the conference with a friendlier-than-usual exploration of the neurobiology of eating disorders. Next up was Dr. Daniel leGrange of the University of Chicago, who took us through the history of research on eating disorders (distressingly meager) and explained in great detail the history of family-based treatment.

After lunch, we heard from Dr. le Grange and Dr. Renee Hoste, also of the University of Chicago, on clinical applications of the research. Last but not least, Roxie Rockwell of University of California-San Diego explained UCSD's wonderful week-long multi-family intensive program. (All PowerPoint slides are up on the Maudsley Parents website.)

Kudos to the main conference organizer, my partner-in-crime at Maudsley Parents, Jane Cawley, who by now really knows how to put on a great day.


And thanks to everyone who participated and attended. We're thinking New York City for our next conference. Stay tuned!

Maudsley Parents conference: San Diego, Jan. 21, 2011

For those of you on the West Coast (or those who wouldn't mind a sunny interlude in January), Maudsley Parents is pleased to announce that registration is open for our next conference, scheduled for Jan. 21, 2011, in San Diego.

The fabulous lineup for this one-day conference includes a talk on the neurobiology of eating disorders by Dr. Walter Kaye of the University of California-San Diego; a talk on family-based treatment (FBT) by Dr. Daniel le Grange of the University of Chicago; an interactive session on FBT by Dr. le Grange and Dr. Renee Hoste, also of University of Chicago; and a dynamic presentation on multi-family treatment for eating disorders by Roxanne Rockwell, the lead therapist at the University of California-San Diego's Eating Disorders Program. I've worked with all of these professionals, and they're amazing. I'll also be doing a reading from my book, Brave Girl Eating.

Register before November 30 and get the early bird rate of only $60 for a day full of education (and lunch!). For more information, click here. Hope to see you in San Diego!

Family-based treatment in the New York Times

Great story by Roni Rabin in tomorrow's New York Times about family-based treatment for anorexia. Nice interviews with Rina Ranalli, whose daughter recovered using FBT; Dr. Daniel le Grange of the University of Chicago; and moi.

Change is coming. And it's about bloody well time.

NEDA, here I come!

Looking forward to meeting some of you at NEDA this weekend. Tonight is a dinner for the PFN--I'll be there along with my ch-chair at Maudsley Parents, Jane Cawley. Saturday night there's a meet and greet and signing for authors at the conference--I'll be signing Brave Girl Eating. And I'll be presenting along with Dr. Walter Kaye on Sunday afternoon at 3. Hope to see you there and around the conference!

The study results are in!

And they're clear and well-supported: For teenagers with anorexia nervosa, the first-line treatment should be family-based treatment (FBT), also known as the Maudsley approach.

I think the days of FBT being labeled as a marginal, alternative, or "very special" treatment for "very special families" are officially over. For a high percentage of teens with anorexia, FBT works--they recover, and they stay recovered.

Does it work for every single family? Nope. But then neither does chemotherapy, or penicillin, or other mainstream treatments we don't question. (For an inside look at how it worked for our family, see my new book, Brave Girl Eating.)

Now, the hard part: Training enough FBT therapists so that more families have access to them. Luckily, someone's already on the case.

We still need more research. We still need better techniques. But there's no question that this is big news, and important news, for families and clinicians.

Big congratulations to Dr. Daniel le Grange and Dr. James Lock, who co-authored the study.

Book tour!

The last few weeks have seen a lot of action on the book tour front. I'll be traveling quite a bit to readings, events, and conferences to talk about Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia.

I thought I'd post an up-to-the-minute calendar of where I'm scheduled to be so far, with more to come. You can also look for my schedule here. If you come to a reading, please introduce yourself! I look forward to meeting some of you while I'm on the road.

8/24: Appearance on Good Morning America, 7 a.m.?
8/25: Reading at Sheppard Pratt Center for Eating Disorders, Baltimore, 7-9 p.m. in the conference center
9/20 The Book House, Albany, NY, 7 p.m.
8/26: Appearance on the Diane Rehm Show, 10 a.m.-noon
9/24: Presentation/book talk, Lake Forest College, 10 a.m., Lake Forest, IL
10/1: Reading/book talk, University of Wisconsin, Room 1244, Health Science Learning Center, noon
10/2: Reading/book talk, Wisconsin Book Festival, 10 a.m., A Room of One's Own Bookstore, Madison, WI
10/4: Reading/book talk, Moline Public Library, 10 a.m. (subject to change in location)
10/4: Talk/reading, Quad Cities Eating Disorder Consortium training for therapists, 3 p.m., Moline, IL
10/10: Presentation with Dr. Walter Kaye, National Eating Disorders Association annual conference, 3 p.m., Brooklyn, NY
1/21: Presentation/book talk, Maudsley Parents conference, University of California San Diego, 11:30 a.m., San Diego, CA

Conference in Chicago--register now!

In just over two weeks Maudsley Parents will sponsor its second conference on eating disorders--this time in Chicago. This one-day conference, aimed at parents, therapists, and researchers, features some of the best thinkers on eating disorders in the country--including Dr. Daniel le Grange and Dr. Walter Kaye—plus a panel of parents who will talk frankly about what they know about combating their children's eating disorders.

It's going to be a fabulous event. I'll be there, along with my two partners in crime from Maudsley Parents--Jane Cawley and Ann Farine. We've worked hard to keep it affordable so everyone who wants to come can manage it.

For more information or to register, click here. We'd love to see you in Chicago!

NEDA Walk in San Diego

You don't have to be in San Diego to support the first annual San Diego NEDA walk, which will be held on February 21. The walk is being hosted by the University of California San Diego's Eating Disorders Program--the same folks who run a five-day intensive outpatient program for families getting started with family-based treatment for anorexia or bulimia.

Sign up online to sponsor one or more walkers on UCSD's team, which includes Walter Kaye, Roxanne Rockwell, and Bridget Whitlow. Go, team!

Chicago conference! April 26!

If you're in the Chicago vicinity (or even if you're not), please join Maudsley Parents for a day-long conference featuring some of the smartest and most articulate researchers in the field of eating disorders.

Our speakers include Dr. Walter Kaye, director of the University of California San Diego's Eating Disorders Program, and Dr. Daniel Le Grange, director of the University of Chicago's Eating Disorders Program. They're two of my all-time favorite experts, and they'll have some exciting new research results to share. We'll also have a panel of parents who will share their experiences using Family-Based Treatment (FBT) to help their children recover from eating disorders.

Register here before Feb. 28 and the fee is only $40. After March 1, the fee is $50.

I'll be there--I hope to see you!

Interview with Dr. Katharine Loeb

Here's the latest in a series of video interviews with some of the top researchers in the field of eating disorders, done by Jane Cawley, co-chair of Maudsley Parents. This interview with Dr. Katharine Loeb of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine offers sound, practical advice for parents of teens with anorexia.

Anorexia Nervosa in Teens: What Parents Should Know from Jane Cawley on Vimeo.

Take a look. Let me know what you think.

See you in . . . October?

For those of you in the D.C. area, I hope you'll join me and some very special guests at a conference on eating disorders, hosted by Maudsley Parents. This half-day get-together features two of the leading researchers in the field of eating disorders, both of whom are accessible, compelling speakers. Daniel le Grange heads up the University of Chicago's Eating Disorders Program; Walter Kaye directs the University of CalIfornia-San Diego's program.

Dr. le Grange will discuss family-based treatment (the Maudsley approach) for both anorexia and bulimia. Dr. Kaye will give us insights into the neurobiology of eating disorders. And I'll share my family's story and offer parents specific strategies and tips for helping a child through an eating disorder.

You can find more information and sign up for the conference here. (If you sign up before September 14, the cost is only $25 per person.) I hope to see you there!

Save the date: October 5

Please join Maudsley Parents for a half-day afternoon conference on family-based eating disorders featuring two of the research world's heaviest hitters (and best speakers): Dr. Walter Kaye, of UC-San Diego, and Dr. Daniel LeGrange of University of Chicago, co-author of Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder. Yours truly will also speak.

The conference will be held at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland. More details to come--stay tuned!

New stuff at MP.org

If you haven't visited the Maudsley Parents site in a while, take a look. We've posted lots of new content, including a wonderful video interview about anorexia with Dr. Daniel le Grange of the University of Chicago, done by our own Jane Cawley. There's also new information in Spanish, a new article on eating disorders in boys, an updated and downloadable recipe collection, a video interview with Dr. le Grange on bulimia, and more. Plus there's a new search feature on the site.

Stop by and let us know what you think! Kudos to Jane Cawley for the new content and organization, and to Ann Farine, our web designer.

Fighting Stigma with Science

This video is required watching for anyone with an interest in eating disorders. Cynthia Bulik is one of the leading researchers in the field, and this interview, done by Jane Cawley, co-chair of Maudsley Parents, is compelling and important. Take a look.


Fighting Stigma with Science from Jane Cawley on Vimeo.

Eating disorders workshops in central New York

The Mental Health Association of Onondaga County is offering a two-part Parent Partner Workshop, held on September 9 and 16th in Syracuse, NY. These three-hour workshops are designed to help families and loved ones support people with eating disorders, and I hope if you're in central NY you'll try to make one of the workshops. I'm thrilled that I've been asked to speak on the 16th. If you attend, please come say hello. I'll be talking about our family's experience with anorexia and about Maudsley Parents.

And the best part is that snacks are provided!

Details:
Sept. 9 & 16
6-9 p.m.
Cornell Cooperative Extension, 220 Herald Place, 2nd Floor, Syracuse
$10.00 per person, $30.00 for family of 4