Which Workshop To Choose?

The hardest part of our annual conference is choosing one of the six interesting workshops offered in the afternoon portion of the day. This year's topics offer broad appeal with subjects such as "Ask the Doctor," good nutrition and addiction. But it also appeals to more specific interests such as new treatments for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, suicidal behavior in adolescents and the workshop on eating disorders highlighted below. Over the next week, we will highlight the five other workshops on our blog.

Workshop #1
Understanding Eating Disorders as Serious Mental Illnesses

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that affect people from all cultures and socioeconomic classes, with consequences that can be devastating to individuals and their families. Eating disorders are difficult to treat and are associated with significant co-occurring mental and physical illnesses, high relapse rates and death. This presentation will review the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified. Theories of causation including genetic, familial, personality and cultural influences will be discussed. Medical complications and the importance of medical monitoring and intervention will be explained. A review of empirically supported treatment interventions will be presented, with a special emphasis on the role of family in treatment and recovery from an eating disorder.

Presenter: Liz McCabe, PhD, Clinical Administrator for Eating Disorders and Behavioral Medicine and Director of Social Work at UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

For more information on the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania annual conference or to register, click here.