About this course

Learning Objectives

• Describe how IFS has influenced the personal and professional journeys of leading eating disorder experts.
• Identify key insights and lessons learned from integrating IFS into eating disorder treatment.
• Engage in a meaningful discussion on the future of IFS in therapeutic practice.

Learning Levels

• Intermediate

Target Audience

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Theresa Chesnut, LCSW, CEDS-C

  Founder and CEO of The Chesnut Group

  Theresa Chesnut specializes in the treatment of Eating Disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), and issues related to anxiety, depression and stress. Her focus embraces the optimization of athletic performance as well as the resolution of conflicts arising within the family, particularly those pertaining to adolescent growth. Her therapeutic orientation is holistic, strength-based, and grounded in both psychodynamic and Internal Family Systems (IFS) theories. Theresa has worked with adolescents and adults for over 30 years, managing her clients’ challenges with Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorders. Previous to her having formed her own private group practice, she held the position of Clinical Director at The Healthy Teen Project (HTP), an adolescent, eating disorder-specific outpatient clinic. Before her tenure at HTP, Theresa held many roles over her 13-year stint at a national eating disorder residential treatment center, including Program Director, Lead Individual and Group Therapist, Program Director, Director of Regional Marketing, and supervising master level interns. She was also instrumental in a senior management role, starting new programs, training new staff, overseeing operations, creating policies and procedures for programs, and expanding existing practices into new geographic locations. Theresa lectures locally and nationally, both in person and virtually, on therapeutic interventions targeting the entire eating disorder recovery process. Over the last 3 decades, Theresa has lectured on college campuses as well as to allied professionals covering the state of the art of symptom identification and eating disorder prevention, therapeutic interventions. She has been trained in Family Based Therapy (FBT), Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), and has been an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist for 2 decades; additionally, she has assisted in Level One Trainings. Theresa served as a Board member of the national Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) from 2009-2017 and held board positions as the Secretary, Vice-Chair, and Chair. Additionally, she sat on several committees including the Conference Committee and Weight Stigma Awareness Week." Theresa currently runs an annual event - The Tri-State Eating Disorder Conference in Evansville, Indiana. She maintains group practices in California and in Indiana. The practice offers practicum internships for Masters level students. She is one of IADEP’s Certified Eating Disorder Specialists, in addition to being one of their Supervisors. Although she maintains her private practice in Northern California, she resides in Evansville, IN where she is a proud grandmother to 4 grandchildren and her therapy Shepadoodle, Stevie Nicks.

• 

  Jeanne Catanzaro, Ph.D

  Clinical Psychologist

  Jeanne Catanzaro, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has specialized in treating eating disorders and trauma for the past 25 years. She trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and EMDR before discovering the Internal Family Systems Model. An approved IFS consultant, she has written two chapters on using IFS to treat eating disorders, one in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy (2017) and another in Trauma-Informed Approaches to Eating Disorders (2019). For the past ten years she’s been focused on healing eating issues across the spectrum. Her book, tentatively titled Unburdened Eating: An IFS approach to Healing Your Relationships with Food and Your Body, focuses on healing the cultural legacy burdens that keep people from having Self-led relationships with their bodies.

• 

  Beth Mayer, LICSW

  Private Practice Clinician

  Beth is a clinical social worker who has a private clinical practice working with individuals, couples and families struggling with all types of issues including anxiety, depression and trauma. Her specialty is treating people with eating disorders and disordered eating which she has been doing for over 42 years. Beth also does presentations and training with community groups, professional organizations and mental health institutions. Beth holds a BS in Clinical Psychology from Quinnipiac College in Hamden, CT and an MSW from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. She is also certified as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the State of Massachusetts. Beth served as Executive Director of the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Associate (MEDA) in Newton, MA for more than 17 years. She was a strong proponent of their mission: to heal, educate, empower and support people, families and other community members impacted by eating disorders; to stop the spread of eating disorders through educational awareness and early detection; and to promote greater acceptance of all body types. Beth has been trained in several different disciplines including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the Maudsley Method (FBT) and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). She tends to be more eclectic in her approach to her clients and believes in an integrated model of care. She also feels it is critical to work very collaboratively with her client’s treatment team. Most important to Beth is her relationship with her clients. She sits with them and their experiences in life and tries to help them navigate through them. She sees the strengths in her clients and their families and tends not to pathologize people and their situations. She is not judgmental, believes that everyone can change, and has the capacity to heal and have a better life. Some of this comes from her own personal struggles – she has recovered from her own eating disorder - and her belief in the process of healing. Beth also incorporates much humor in her treatment style. Although very serious about her work, she believes that laughing is important to the healing process. She laughs a lot with her clients and tries to help them to see how humor can be beneficial in their lives.

  “I still get excited every time I meet a new client and try to help them navigate through their struggles and triumphs. I do this work because I truly love it and I continue to have a lot of energy, enthusiasm and patience.”

• 

  Marcella Cox, LMFT, CEDS-C

  Founder, Kindful Body

  Marcella Cox, LMFT, Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Consultant & CEDS-C (she/her) Founder, Kindful Body

  Marcella Cox, LMFT, is a therapist, author and speaker who has dedicated her career to treating eating disorders, disordered eating, body shame, and trauma. She is a Level 3 Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Consultant and on the teaching staff of Susan McConnell, developer of Somatic IFS, an approach that blends the IFS model of therapy with somatic therapy. Marcella trains and supports clinicians in utilizing IFS and Somatic IFS in their work through workshops, trainings, professional consultation, and retreats. She is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and empowering learning environment where participants can explore the transformative potential of somatic parts work. She recently contributed the chapter on IFS and Disordered Eating in Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends (Pivotal Press, 2023). Marcella is also founder of Kindful Body, providing online therapy and nutrition counseling for eating and body issues in California. To learn more, visit www.kindfulbody.com.

Disclosure

References

• Schwartz, R. C. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the Internal Family Systems model.
• Riemersma, J. (Ed.), & Schwartz, R. C. (Eds.). (2023). Altogether us: Integrating the IFS model with key modalities, communities, and trends. Pivotal Press.
• Catanzaro, J. (2023). Unburdened eating: Releasing blocks to nourishing relationships with food and body using Internal Family Systems. Trailhead Publications.
• Anderson, F. S., Sweezy, M., & Schwartz, R. C. (2017). Internal family systems therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
• Neubauer, J. (2024). Internal Relational Illustration: A Pilot Clinical Case Study. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 52(1), 73-91.
• Redfern, E. E. (2022). In search of Self. In Internal Family Systems Therapy (pp. 209-235). Routledge.
• Edery, R. (2023). Disorganized Attachment Style And The Moderating Effect of The Inner Loving Parent on Closeness Terror: An Internal Family Systems (IFS) Approach. Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, 1-5.
• Mok, C. H. B. (2023). Internal family systems therapy (IFS): A compassionate approach to therapy. Counselling & Psychotherapy Review Singapore, 1(01), 29-34.