Dick Schwartz began his career as a family therapist and an academic at the University of Illinois at Chicago. There he discovered that family therapy alone did not achieve full symptom relief and in asking patients why, he learned that they were plagued by what they called “parts.” These patients became his teachers as they described how their parts formed networks of inner relationship that resembled the families he had been working with. He also found that as they focused on and, thereby, separated from their parts, they would shift into a state characterized by qualities like curiosity, calm, confidence and compassion. He called that inner essence the Self and was amazed to find it even in severely diagnosed and traumatized patients. From these explorations the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model was born in the early 1980s.

IFS is now evidence-based and has become a widely-used form of psychotherapy, particularly with trauma. It provides a non-pathologizing, optimistic, and empowering perspective and a practical and effective set of techniques for working with individuals, couples, families, and more recently, corporations and classrooms.

Dick lives with his wife Jeanne near Chicago, close to his three daughters and his growing number of grandchildren.

Dr. Angela Denise Mensah, nee Prater, Ph.D. is a communication professor, a published author, and has spoken at national and international conferences. She is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas as a joint faculty member of Communication and African and African American Studies. She is developing a service-learning project where the University of Arkansas students work with a community partner to teach body neutrality to youth participants.

Dr. Mensah is a feminist critical theorist who believes that oppression is oppression and no one group of people is affected by it more or less than another. Because oppression is a human experience, we all must be reminded when we are being oppressed or being the oppressor (all humans experience both roles whether we like to admit it or not). Body image which includes but is not limited to Ability, Age, and Gender oppression are ways in which individuals still experience overt oppression in society.
Dr. Mensah holds a Bachelor of Science in Television Production from Ferris State University; a Masters of Arts in Communication from Western Michigan University and a Doctorate of Philosophy [School of Communication Studies with a cognate in Media] from Bowling Green State University, 2008. She enjoys nature photography, and contemporary Christian music and loves hanging out with her black Labrador retriever, Hopper!

Dr. Mensah has worked with several non-profits to raise awareness of body image and disordered eating including the National Eating Disorder Association, Mental Fitness, Inc. (formally Normal in Schools), Binge Eating Disorder Association, the Body Freedom Project, and now Body Equity Alliance. As an individual with lived experience, she believes that as children we absorb all the negative messages in society and have no defense against them unless there is an adult that intervenes in a positive way to help. She is committed to working with individuals to work toward a healthy body image toward the self and others to create a better society. She worked in community colleges, research universities, and the non-profit sector to reach a wider group of people that are on the margins fighting to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Wendy Oliver Pyatt, MD, FAED, CEDS is presently the Cofounder, CEO and Chief Clinical Officer of Within Health and the CEO and Cofounder of Galen Hope operating through Galen Mental Health. She is a board- certified psychiatrist and world-leading expert on treating eating disorders and has more than 25 years of clinical experience. She has developed five separate treatment programs all grounded in a strong bio-psycho-social foundation and incorporating intensive psychotherapy with behavioral foundations and high medical standards. Wendy is known for her innovative, humane, and dignity enhancing approach to medically and psychiatrically thorough care. Wendy has developed a unique treatment approach that delves into the underlying issues that place a person at risk for mental health conditions and eating disorders and lead to healing, health, and inner peace.

As CEO of the Body Equity Alliance, Turner leads efforts to engage in advocacy and activism, provide education, coaching, navigation and communications, advise best practices, and influence public policy on issues related to eating disorders, weight stigma and weight discrimination, and health equity.

Turner's dedication to public health began when she was part of a team working to ensure cancer patients had ongoing access to critical treatments. Driven by her own struggles and recovery, she founded the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) to address the unmet needs of people with the most prevalent eating disorder. After 10 years of pioneering work, BEDA merged with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) in 2018 after noteworthy milestones that included working to add binge eating disorder (BED) to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s 5th Edition (DSM-5), developing a national awareness week addressing weight stigma and intersecting oppressions, creating industry-leading educational programming, and public policy work at the state and national levels. More work in the healthcare arena, education around moving past social determinants of health to health equity, and a dedication to healthcare as a human right has prepared her to help clients make important shifts in their own work.

Dr. Erikka Dzirasa Taylor, MD, MPH, DFAACAP, is a double board-certified Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist who has been committed to serving individuals and families impacted by eating disorders for over 10 years. As a mental health advocate, Dr. Taylor currently serves on the Race, Ethnicity and Equity committee for the North Carolina Psychiatric Association, and she is the immediate Past President of the North Carolina Council of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. She also is a delegate for the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Assembly.

Marcella Cox, LMFT, Certified IFS Therapist and Approved IFS Clinical Consultant & CEDS-S (she/her)
Founder, Kindful Body & Co-founder, IFS Telehealth Collective

Marcella Cox, LMFT, Certified IFS Therapist, Approved IFS Clinical Consultant, and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist - Supervisor has been in clinical practice for more than a decade. Her work is focused on treating disordered eating, body shame, and trauma. Marcella contributed the chapter on IFS and Disordered Eating in Altogether Us: Integrating the IFS Model with Key Modalities, Communities, and Trends (Pivotal Press, 2023). She assists Susan McConnell with Somatic IFS trainings for practitioners, an approach that blends the IFS Model of Therapy with somatic practices. Her certifications as a Body Trust Provider, Daring Way Facilitator and Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher also inform her clinical work.

Marcella is the founder of Kindful Body, a collaboration of experienced eating disorder professionals providing online therapy and nutrition counseling throughout California. She also co-founded the IFS Telehealth Collective with lead IFS trainers, Mariel Pastor, LMFT and Paul Ginter, Ed.D. The IFS Telehealth Collective is a multi-state mental health group practice dedicated to providing authentic, high-quality IFS Therapy online throughout California, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Oregon and Michigan. Marcella provides professional supervision and consultation, workshops and trainings, and will soon be offering in-person retreats. To learn more, visit www.kindfulbody.com

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 Sheepadoodle, Stevie Nicks.

Amy Pershing LMSW, ACSW, CCTP-II is the Founder of Bodywise, the first BED-specific treatment program in the United States, founded in 1995. She is the Director of Pershing Consulting, which offers training to clinicians and programs treating BED around the world. Amy is also the creator of “Hungerwise™,” a 9-week program for ending chronic dieting and weight cycling using the Attuned Eating and Movement approach, offered nationally online. Amy serves as the Vice President of the Board of the Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Based on over 30 years of clinical experience, Amy has pioneered a treatment approach for BED that is strengths-based, incorporating Internal Family Systems, somatic trauma techniques, Attuned Eating and Movement (AEM), and a “health at every size” philosophy. She lectures and keynotes internationally and writes extensively on the treatment of BED and her own recovery journey for both professional and lay communities. Amy has been featured on radio, podcast, and television speaking about BED treatment and recovery, relapse prevention, weight stigma, and attuned eating and movement. She is a founding member and Past Chair of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), and is the winner of BEDA’s Pioneer in Clinical Advocacy award. She is the author of the book Binge Eating Disorder: The Journey to Recovery and Beyond (Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2018) and numerous articles and chapters about BED treatment and advocacy. Amy maintains her clinical practice treating BED in Ann Arbor, MI.

Katie Thompson LPC, CEDS is a Missouri-based psychotherapist
specializing in trauma, eating disorders, anxiety disorders and couples/family
therapy. She has been practicing for over 15 years and in that time she has
been a clinician in all levels of psychiatric services including non-profit social
work settings. As a clinician. Katie has vast training and experience with
eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, complex PTSD, blended
families and attachment. Throughout her career, Katie has created a large
toolbox of clinical interventions but prefers to work with most clinical issues
utilizing Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS), ERP and EMDR. She uses a
direct and honest approach coupled with compassion to help guide clients
into the journey of recovery and healing. As a former educator, she utilizes
years of experience with children and families as a guide when she steps
into the role of family therapist. As a renowned expert in the field of eating
disorder recovery, Katie has been serving regionally and nationally as a
consultant, trainer and coach throughout her career. When not in clinical
space with clients, Katie spends professional time training and supervising
other therapists.

Laura Wood, PhD, LMHC, RDT/BCT is an Associate Professor at Lesley University. Dr. Wood is the past-president of the North American Drama Therapy Association. Her work and research focus on the use of drama and creativity in counseling to support different forms of recovery including eating disorders, addictions and trauma. Her co-authored book Dramatherapy and Recovery: The CoActive Therapeutic Theater Model is being published in 2023 through Routledge. She lectures and consults globally on her research areas.

Salicia Mazero MA, LPC, ATR, CEDS-S is a licensed professional counselor, registered art therapist and a certified eating disorder specialist and supervisor practicing in St. Louis, MO. Salicia is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) and is working towards becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). Over the past 10 years, Salicia has worked in two treatment centers focusing on treating eating disorders before transitioning to private practice and starting her own company Creating Your Journey, LLC. Salicia is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals and currently serves as the president of the St. Louis chapter. She previously served on the board of directors for the Missouri Eating Disorder Association and still a presenter for their Feed the Facts program educating students and teachers about eating disorders and prevention in the school system. She is a faculty member of the Expressive Therapies Summit and the Ferentz Institute. Salicia recently co-authored a chapter on Art Therapy, IFS and EMDR in the book EMDR and Creative Arts Therapies. She presents nationwide annually on art therapy, IFS, and eating disorder treatment.

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.

Katy is a registered dietitian in Los Angeles, CA who specialized in her career in eating disorders, disordered eating, and dysfunctional movement with adolescents and adults. She provides IFS-informed nutrition therapy, medical nutrition therapy, nutritional and meal coaching, and group education exploring movement, nourishment, and parts work. She focuses on weight inclusive and neurodivergent affirming care with each client, providing the clients with agency in their healing work. She has her Masters in Public Health from University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston, where she was able to focus on health promotion and health education. Katy completed a fellowship in Neonatal Nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine and found her way to eating disorders during the pandemic. Since the start of her work, she has taken a compassion based approach to treatment for eating disorders. She currently sits on the executive committee for Behavioral Health Nutrition, a subgroup of the Academy in Nutrition and Dietetics, as the Eating Disorder Resource Professional providing connections and referrals for dietitians seeking support and is a member of IAEDP Los Angeles. She has been to multiple educational trainings in IFS such as the IFS institute conference in Denver and Molly Kellogg and Diana Dugan Richards workshop in IFS for nutrition professionals while waiting for a Level 1 training in IFS. She currently resides in Los Angeles but practices nationwide, able to serve clients in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont. When she’s offline, Katy is found at her local pilates and yoga studio, connecting with her friends and family, engaging in her community through local events and pop-ups, or naturally, is at the beach.

Molly Kellogg, RD, LCSW is a Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist and Authorized IFS Clinical Consultant based in Philadelphia. She was a dietitian treating eating disorders for 30 years and trained dietitians in motivational interviewing. She is the author of Counseling Tips for Nutrition Therapists: Practice Workbook series. Partnering with Diana Dugan Richards, RDN, LDN she provides resources and introductory training in IFS for dietitians.

Kayla is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist from Evansville, Indiana. She is the founder of Stanton Nutrition Counseling, an insurance-based group practice that offers weight-inclusive care for people experiencing eating disorders as well as other conditions negatively impacting health and quality of life. She received her master’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Ball State University, and after working in both the clinical and community settings, she discovered a passion for helping people walk through and recover from eating disorders. She is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP) and actively involved with The National Alliance for Eating Disorders, both in advocacy and as a virtual support groups leader. She is also on the leadership team for the Eating Disorders Task Force of Indiana (EDTFI). When not working with clients, she enjoys educating other clinicians on how to provide evidence-based and compassionate care to those experiencing eating disorders.

Eileen Misluk-Gervase MPS, LPC, ATR-BC, LMHC, CEDS is a board-certified art therapist, licensed professional counselor, licensed mental health counselor, and certified eating disorder specialist. Eileen is an Associate Faculty and Director of the graduate art therapy program at Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University Indianapolis. She maintains a private practice where she has specialized in individuals with eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and body image concerns for 15 years.