Dr. C. Laird Birmingham’s presentation will help psychologists recognize and plan treatment of the most common block to recovery in eating disorder patients – comorbid conditions.
The psychologist may be reluctant to treat eating disorder patients because they are both have both medical and psychological illnesses and the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. However, they are perfectly positioned to recognize and treat comorbid psychological illnesses and see patients in conjunction with a medical doctor.
However, the psychologist must have an understanding of how to separate the eating disorder from the comorbid illness and the special aspects of the treatment of patients with eating disorders.Alarms have increasingly sounded within the mental health professions about the number of young adults seemingly becalmed in the transition from dependent adolescence to independent adulthood.
Though research is severely limited, the causal factors appear to be diverse, and it seems that none is sufficient to produce the difficulty on its own. Personality, economic, and cultural influences have all been implicated, as has the appearance of the Internet and the amount of time young adults typically spend online.
Learning Objectives:
- How to distinguish whether symptoms and behaviours are due to comorbid disorders or the eating disorder itself?
- Do comorbid disorders prevent recovery?
- Are there new non-drug treatments for comorbid eating disorders?
- Can you use technology to diagnose comorbid eating disorders?
Course Structure:
Completing this on-demand course will result in a 3 CE (3 hours) credits certificate. In order to earn your credits, you are required to watch the 2-part webinar, complete a survey and submit a small assignment.
1. Part 1 (watch presentation + download handouts)
2. Part 2 (watch presentation)
3. Complete a Survey
4. Submit the final assignment
The Presenter
MD
C Laird Birmingham
Dr C. Laird Birmingham, MD is a Specialist in Internal Medicine, Epidemiologist and Biostatistician and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, where he was previously Professor of Medicine.
He was Head of General Internal Medicine at UBC, Leader of the BC Eating Disorders Epidemiology Project in the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, and then Medical Director of the Woodstone Residential Treatment Centre for Eating Disorders until December 2013. He is a Member of the Brain Research Centre at UBC. He has more than 40 years of experience in eating disorder and obesity research and treatment and has 280 publications including 131 refereed articles, 23 invited chapters, and 9 books.
Dr. Birmingham’s research has focused on nutrition and the brain, the effect of ambient temperature on weight and activity, and the medical management of eating disorders. He has been using live 3D electrical imaging of the brain to study eating and weight disorders.