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!

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!

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!

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!

6 lessons I learned at NEDA

1. There are lots and lots of well-meaning but ineffectual folks working in the eating disorders field.
2. There is lots and lots of Big Money at stake in the eating disorders field, mostly in the form of residential treatment centers.
3. There are lots and lots of politics in the eating disorders field.
4. Family-based treatment, which the scientific literature recognizes right now as the only evidence-based treatment with an 80 to 90 percent long-term success rate in adolescents, is perceived as controversial in the eating disorders field, even by some of those who profess to support and use it.
5. The most commonly heard comment about FBT at the conference: "Don't you have to be a very special family to make it work?"
6. The intensive outpatient family therapy for eating disorders program at University of California-San Diego, headed by Dr. Walter Kaye, looks absolutely wonderful.

I'm sure there are more, and I'm sure I'll be posting about them too.