World Class Keynote Speakers Offer Hopeful Perspectives at 2020 iaedp™ Symposium

PEKIN, Ill., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Once a year at the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp™) Symposium, the headliner keynote speakers offer attendees their unique perspectives, innovative research and professional experiences, unmatched as a group together in one place at the same time.

This year, at the 34th annual iaedp™ Symposium slated for March 26 – 29, is no different. Seven world-class speakers will converge at the Omni at Championsgate in Orlando to present their views, educate their audiences and engage the more than 1,000 attendees anticipated to attend from points around the globe.

"To experience these accomplished professionals at one time and in one place is an extraordinary opportunity," said Bonnie Harken, Managing Director at the iaedp™ Foundation. "We could not be more excited about each and every one of our keynote speakers."

Keynote speakers and their presentations will be featured at these times:

The Brain That Changes Itself and Eating Disorders
Norman Doidge, M.D., is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, essayist, and poet, on faculty at the Departments of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Columbia University, Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis. His book, The Brain that Changes Itself was chosen by the Dana Brain Foundation USA's journal, Cerebrum, from among the 30,000 books written on the brain, as the best general book on the brain. While eating disorder behaviors and attitudes may be rigid, this does not mean that the brains of patients with those disorders are rigid or lack plasticity; the illness is in part a product of how they use their plasticity, which is a product of their development. We will discuss approaches to the common developmental inhibitions, conflicts and psychodynamics, self-fragmentation, trauma, hopelessness, borderline personality organization and pathological defenses in the therapy of eating disorder patients. The important role of imbalances between our two hemispheres in eating disorders, and right hemisphere-based dissociation from the body, will be highlighted. The lecture will illustrate how to combine a thought and emotion-based, neuroplastically-informed, hemisphere-balancing psychotherapy, with neurofeedback and other modalities, to help patients access their full neuroplastic potential, stimulate dormant brain functions, improve self-regulation and neuromodulation, and develop a more integrated, differentiated view of themselves. When this occurs, patients can develop more life- affirming goals that make ED behaviors less necessary or attractive to them, so that they can grow out of a reliance on them, and mature psychologically at the same time.

• On Friday, March 27 at 10:30 a.m., Sabine Wilhelm, PhD, Chief of Psychology and Director of the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, will present: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Mental Health.
• On Friday, March 27 at 1:30 p.m., John Levitt PhD, CEDS, FAED, F.iaedp, who has over 40 years' experience working with eating disorders, self-injury, trauma, and the complex relapsing client, will present: Evaluating Eating Disorder Practice: The Art and the Science. Dena Cabrera, PsyD, CEDS, President iaedp™ Board of Directors, will introduce Dr. Levitt and will share why this topic is important for patients, providers and third party payors.
• On Friday, March 27 at 4:00 p.m., Dr. Wilhelm also will present: Understanding and Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
• On Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 a.m., Dr. Levitt also will present: Treating the Complex Eating Disordered Trauma Client: The Art Beyond the Science.
• On Saturday, March 28 at 10:30 a.m., Gina Barreca PhD, who has appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, CNN, the BBC, NPR and, yes, on Oprah to discuss gender, power, politics, and humor, will present: Be Loud, Be Funny, and Step Up: Helping Clients Find a Voice.
• On Saturday, March 28 at 1:30 p.m., Annie Heiderscheit, PhD, MT-BC, FAMI, NMT, a board certified music therapist with 18 years of clinical experience and degrees in music therapy, education, and counseling, will present: The Brain Comes Alive with the Sound of Music: Innovative Treatments for Eating Disorders Clients through Music Therapy.
• On Saturday, March 28 at 4:00 p.m., Dr. Barreca also will present: Up Close with a Keynote.
• On Saturday, March 28 at 4:00 p.m., Dr. Heiderscheit also will present: Music Therapy in Eating Disorder Treatment.
• On Sunday, March 29 at 8:00 a.m., Dan Tomasulo Ph.D., TEP, MFA, MAPP, who teaches Positive Psychology in the graduate program of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, Teachers College, will present: Cultivating Hope through Strength-Based Practices.
• On Sunday March 29 at 10:00 a.m., Dr. Tomasulo also will present: The Hierarchy of Hope.

More information about all aspects regarding iaedp™ and its 2020 Symposium can be found at iaedp.com.

About the iaedp™ Foundation:

Since 1985, the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals has provided education and training standards to an international and multidisciplinary group of various healthcare treatment providers and helping professions. MemberSHARE.iaedp.com is an iaedp™ business journal and online member resource to learn about noteworthy member achievements, continuing education webinars and U.S. and international chapter activity and events; for more information, visit MemberSHARE.

The Presidents Council provides iaedp™ support and includes: Center for Change; Center for Hope of the Sierras; Center for Discovery; Eating Recovery Center; Willow Place; Laureate Eating Disorders Program; McCallum Place Eating Disorder Centers; The Meadows Ranch; Rogers Behavioral Health; Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders; Selah House; The Renfrew Center; Timberline Knolls; Turning Tides Eating Disorder Treatment Center; Veritas Collaborative; Focus Treatment Centers; Alsana Eating Disorder Treatment & Recovery Centers; Silver Hill Hospital and Walden Behavioral Care.

The 2020 iaedp™ Symposium is proud to announce Bronze Sponsors: ViaMar Health, Eating Disorder Recovery Specialists, Simple Practice, Transcend ED and Fairwinds Treatment Center.

SOURCE iaedp Foundation