UNC Eating Disorders Program Prepares to Launch Monthly Multi-Family Meal Program

The UNC Eating Disorders Program is preparing to launch a new monthly program for family members of patients currently receiving treatment in our inpatient and partial hospitalization programs. This new program will provide the opportunity for patients and their family members to eat a meal together while receiving support from the treatment team. After the meal, families will participate in presentations and discussions led by members of the clinical treatment team. A key goal of this program is to help family members actively participate in a key part of the recovery process by providing mealtime support. The program is designed to help families to work together as a team and expand the family’s repertoire of skills to support recovery. These monthly meals will help connect families around mealtimes while providing increased social support, guidance, and encouragement.

Rachel Finholt and Kate Cardoza, Social Workers with the Eating Disorders Program, have been instrumental in planning and preparing the launch of this new program. By securing a generous grant from the UNC Health Care Volunteer Association, the Program will be able to cover the cost of providing these monthly meals for both families and patients. This no-cost meal option for family members will allow families to participate in the program without added stress or financial burden during an already challenging time.

The Eating Disorders Program is excited to launch this program in January 2012, and we are especially grateful for the ongoing support of Volunteer Services that has made this program possible.  To learn more about the Multi-Family Meal Program, please contact Rachel Finholt or Kate Cardoza.

By: Sara Hofmeier

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A Round of Applause and Standing Ovation Goes To….

UNC’s Eating Disorders and Women’s Mood Disorder Programs

for launching yet another successful conference this year on:

 “Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan: Puberty, Pregnancy and Perimenopause”

 

With an interactive “Myth Busters” exercise, dynamic presentations, and influential speakers, the 7^th Annual UNC Eating Disorders and Women’s Mood Disorders Conference ended up being a HUGE success. Informative, yet engaging, leading UNC researchers and guest speakers delivered the “late-and-breaking” findings in women’s mental health, touching on sensitive periods throughout the lifespan—from puberty to pregnancy to perimenopause. With over 130 attendants, this was the largest conference to date, bringing together a highly passionate and dedicated group of treatment providers, advocates, friends, and family, who, in line with the theme of this conference, spanned the entire age spectrum.

Highlights from the eating disorders talks:

• Rebecka Peebles, M.D., guest speaker (pictured right), painted an encouraging picture for successful recovery and rapid response in pediatric eating disorders underscoring family involvement as an integral component to treatment, and dispelling the myth that “parents are to blame.” She reviewed early warning signs of eating pathology and discussed optimal prevention and intervention strategies for these youth.
• Stephanie Zerwas, Ph.D., UNC Faculty (pictured left), presented findings from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health which follows > 72,000 women during and after pregnancy gathering detailed information on psychiatric health. Dr. Zerwas found that women with eating disorders are at increased risk for developing perinatal mood disorders, highlighting the need for increased support and physician monitoring of mood symptoms immediately after  these women give birth.
• Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., UNC Faculty (pictured right), debunked the myth that women at midlife are protected from weight and shape concerns, presenting findings from the Gender and Body Image Across the Lifespan Study (GABI) that showed a high degree of body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight control behaviors in women at midlife.  
• With Drs. Baucom and Kirby, Bulik also provided clinicians with guidelines for implementing UCAN (Uniting Couples in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa) in the clinical setting. This promising new treatment that shows low drop-out (much less so than other studies) enlists the support of partners in managing and helping their loved one recovery from an eating disorder, while also providing them the space to discuss and learn to cope with their own reactions and frustrations with this disease. A couple who successfully completed the program, shared their moving story with anorexia, crediting UCAN for “saving their marriage and saving their lives.” 

 

What did our attendees have to say about the conference?

“Excellent conference…strong pro-woman focus with emphasis on need for awareness and change of the current cultural status quo with respect to prevailing views of girls, women, body shape, weight & age.”

“Very interesting and important information for both researchers & clinicians!”

“Good information on studies that lead to evidence-based treatment.”

We hope to continue the tradition next year!!  Additional pictures from the November 5^th 2011 conference can be found here.

By: Cristin Runfola, Ph.D.

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“The Woman in the Mirror” NEW book release and blog by Dr. Cynthia Bulik

Dr. Bulik, director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program has written an exciting new book. “The Woman in the Mirror: How to Stop Confusing What You Look Like with Who You Are” will be released December 20^th and is available now for pre-order online. In this book, Bulik emphasizes the importance of not confusing body esteem with self-esteem as the key to escaping the body image trap. Written for women of all ages and backgrounds, “The Woman in the Mirror” empowers women to reclaim their self-confidence by escaping the tyranny of the beauty ideal. “This does not mean you can’t dress up for the holiday parties,” says Bulik, “we all have a right to flaunt our fancy…but it should be because we want to not because we have to in order to feel good about who we are as a person.” Read more about the book, the author, and upcoming events at www.womaninthemirrorbook.com.

Accompanying the book is a new blog (http://womaninthemirrorblog.wordpress.com/), which provides a venue for women and men to share their personal “mirror” stories and reflect on those of others. In addition to mirror stories, the blog features mirrors in the news and mirrors in science. Jump on board today and share your reflections either by leaving a comment on the blog or by emailing womaninthemirrorbook@gmail.com.

by Sara Trace

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An inspiring presentation through the lens of recovery

As clinicians and researchers in the field of eating disorders, we are not experts, but remain forever students of the disorders. Often, enhanced understanding of the experience of eating disorders comes from women and men who have recovered. Listening to their stories and how they made sense of the illnesses broadens our conviction that although there are similarities, everyone’s eating disorder is unique. This presentation for an anthropology class is one patient’s perspective on her illness. It is a moving piece and we are grateful that she is allowing us to share it with readers of the Exchanges blog.

Cynthia Bulik, PhD

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Order of the Chocolate Fish December 2011

This month the UNC Eating Disorders Program makes history by inducting two dedicated faculty into the Order of the Chocolate Fish. The order was established in 2003 to acknowledge faculty, staff, or trainees who go beyond the call of duty to make a positive contribution the program. This month, we are pleased to induct Ms. Judy Mann, Vice Chair for Administration in the Department of Psychiatry, and Sara Hofmeier, MS, LPC, NCC, Assistant Clinical Professor. This tandem honor comes in part because these two individuals are behind the scenes engines that keep the program alive. Let me explain how.

Since our inception in 2003, Judy Mann has believed in our vision and mission. It is never easy forging new paths and the Eating Disorders Program always seems to want to try something that no one has ever tried before. Some administrators might just say, that’s never been done before, so forget about it. But not Judy. Every time we have come to her with a new challenge, obstacle, wild idea, or routine concern she has eagerly worked the problem and found a way to make the impossible happen. Judy has administrative responsibility for the entire Department of Psychiatry, but she always makes you feel like your concerns are front and center. She has the same uncanny talent that both Bill and Hillary Clinton have. When they speak to a room full of people, they make eye contact with everyone, and each person leaves feeling as if she or he has been spoken to directly and personally. What they do in world affairs, Judy does in administration. Without Judy’s intervention for the past 8 years, we simply would not be here. For her tireless dedication and generosity with her time and energy, we add Judy to the list of worthy recipients of the Order of the Chocolate Fish.

Sara Hofmeier

Perhaps it is the uncanny similarity between how Sara Hofmeier and Judy Mann approach their work that lead to this dual award. Like Judy, Sara never says something can’t be done. Sara finds a way and makes things happen. Equally effective in the research and clinical realms, Sara’s positive attitude and relentless problem solving keep us on track and organized, organized, organized. Always at the other end of an email, she can sniff out problems before they become problems and make them disappear before they are noticed by most. But there are lots of organized and efficient people in the world. Those two qualities alone are not sufficient for induction into the Order. What Sara enriches those qualities with is a passionate commitment to the welfare of all of our patients and their families, a determination for us always to be delivering the highest quality consistent care, and the ability to lead others in staying on task and excelling. Sara embodies our approach of “compassionate but firm” in all that she does. For these qualities together with her genuine warmth and delightful sense of humor, we welcome Sara to the Order of the Chocolate Fish.

 

The inductees will receive personal notification and their edible awards in December.

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