This webinar will explore ways clinicians can work towards fostering a sense of safety for their clients through their use of language and terminology; creating safe therapeutic environments, understanding and challenging your own internalised ideas of bodies and shape, knowing ways lived experience can be drawn on to build body satisfaction, and building awareness of understandings and stances that promote body inclusivity.
Dr Sarah Egan and Dr Amanda Bolton will draw on research, practice guidelines, and their extensive experience as trainers, supervisors and clinicians. Along with the provision of avenues for further learning, this workshop will be thought-provoking, compassionate, interactive and pragmatic so you can walk away and apply these principles to the benefit of your clients.
Sarah and Amanda will cover:
- Definitions (i.e., body image and safety) and setting the scene with better understanding body image
- The importance of safety in reducing harm to body image and current challenges to fostering body satisfaction
- Understanding the role of layers of culture (family, schools, media, social/other, cultural norms and ideals) on body dissatisfaction
- Understanding the challenges to safety including oppression and privilege, diet culture and anti-fat bias, discrimination, ableism, ageism and more
- Overview of safety frameworks and why they are relevant
- Practical strategies to reduce harm and promote body satisfaction
- Resources for further learning + Q&A
Learning outcomes
- Understanding what safety in body image work is and the factors that disrupt a sense of safety in this work
- Understanding the role cultural and clinician biases, assumptions and beliefs have on safety in body image work
- Understanding how body image safety is impacted by the clinical setting and environment
- Develop an understanding of the different frameworks that are relevant and helpful in fostering body image safety (including Health at Every Size ®, non-diet, weight neutral principles, gender-affirming, trauma informed principles, eating disorder safe principles)
- Learn to apply practices and skills that are inclusive and create safety in clinical work that supports helping those trying to improve body satisfaction and preventing doing harm to body image (including use of language, creating body safe environments, promoting autonomy, drawing on helpful philosophies, and building awareness of helpful resources to support change).
About our presenters: Dr Sarah Egan and Dr Amanda Bolton
Dr Sarah Egan and Dr Amanda Bolton are both senior clinical psychologists and co-partners and trainers at Eating Disorders Training Australia (EDTA). Sarah and Amanda have extensive experience training and supervising clinicians across Australia and internationally in supporting the development of body satisfaction and helping clinicians grow, develop and help their clients in an affirming, weight-neutral and compassionate way.
Some of their work has included:
- Developing and implementing workshops for large national organisations
- Informing multiple national sporting bodies
- Running training in the United States
- Presentations on national radio, international webinars and podcasts
- Clinician group supervisions
- Developing and publishing workbooks and self-directed learning.
Both own their own clinical practices and are on the ground doing this work day to day. Their work centres lived experience and draws on practice guidelines and comprehensive knowledge of research in this space to inform and explore. Through EDTA, they not only support clinicians to feel comfortable learning about this work, but guide them through the stages of integration into their clinical practice. Being very familiar with some of the common pitfalls that arise, they can support movement towards helpful approaches.
Dr Sarah Egan Dr Amanda Bolton
Webinar timing: 7:00 – 8:00 pm AEDT
Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.