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Two Decades of IFS: Personal and Professional Reflections in Eating Disorder Treatment

CE Hours 1

About this course

Join us for a compelling and insightful one-hour panel discussion featuring Theresa Chesnut, Marcella Cox, and Beth Mayer, three esteemed eating disorder clinicians who have been trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy in and approach the treatment of eating disorders from this lens for the past two decades. They will share their journeys of discovering IFS, its transformative impact on them personally and professionally, and how the powerful model impacts their work today. Panelists:  Theresa Chesnut, LCSW, CEDS-C is a licensed mental health counselor and certified eating disorder specialist-supervisor. With a career spanning more than 30 years, she has worked extensively in outpatient, residential, and private practice settings, utilizing IFS to guide clients toward self-awareness and internal healing. Theresa also trains and supervises clinicians in applying IFS and other evidence-based approaches in their work with eating disorders. Marcella Cox, LMFT, is a therapist, has over 20 years in the field, is an 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.  Beth Mayer, LICSW has dedicated over 40 years to the field of eating disorders, providing therapy, supervision, and program development. A well-respected leader, she has served as the former executive director of the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA) and has played a vital role in advancing treatment approaches. Beth integrates IFS into her practice to support clients in building self-compassion and addressing the underlying emotional conflicts that contribute to disordered eating. What You’ll Learn: How each panelist discovered IFS and the profound impact it had on their work Personal and professional transformations through IFS practice Effective ways to integrate IFS into eating disorder treatment today Lessons learned from two decades of applying the model with clients This discussion is ideal for therapists, clinicians, and anyone interested in the intersection of IFS and eating disorder treatment. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from these experienced professionals!

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

This educational activity is intended for clinicians, including psychologists, dietitians, social workers, counselors, and MFT's. Students, recent graduates, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals are welcome as well.

Course Instructor(s)

  • Theresa Chesnut, LCSW, CEDS-C

    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

    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

    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

    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

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

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.

CE Process Info

Content

  • Materials
    1 parts
    • Two Decades of IFS
  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYSEDSW)

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    CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

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  • Joint Accreditation (JA)

    In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

FAQs

  • Course Completion
    To complete the course, review the course objectives, then watch the video power point presentations following along with the corresponding pdf, and lastly complete an evaluation. Your certificate will be available to download immediately when you complete the evaluation. Note that you can not continue in the course until you complete the previous section.
  • ADA Accommodations - TCG
    ADA accommodations will be made in accordance with the law; please indicate your special needs upon registering by sending an email to connect@thechesnutgroup.com.
  • Where can I find my Attendee Dashboard link?
    Upon registering, you should receive an email from support@ce-go.com with a link to access your Attendee Dashboard. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder. If you still cannot locate the email, you may retrieve your Attendee Dashboard link by clicking HERE
  • Refunds
    Refunds are not available.
  • Additional Sessions
    If you would like additional sessions, contact connect@thechesnutgroup.com.
Two Decades of IFS: Personal and Professional Reflections in Eating Disorder Treatment
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$20
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  • CE Hours
    1
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    Apr 15th, 2025

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