Listening to the Body: Helping Patients with Eating Disorders and Body Image Concerns

Working with patients with eating disorders and body image concerns presents unique opportunities for clinicians. Eating disorder symptoms are somatic experiences of internal, psychological distress and through this medium, the body 'speaks' for the patient. Translating these messages, finding words and linking them to feelings is a critical part of treatment. Since these illnesses are often associated with significant medical morbidity, clinicians can feel anxious and worried about the need to respond quickly, which can create ruptures in the treatment relationship and countertransference challenges. This training will take a broad and integrative approach to the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of eating disorders and body image concerns. We will focus on both working with symptoms and attending to underlying dynamics that have put the body in peril. We will discuss how clinicians can engage patients as well as considerations for more intensive services. We will also identify barriers to treatment, including size discrimination and stigma.

Published: October 2025

Format

Online Course

Credits

6.0

Instructor

Dana Satir, Ph.D.

Price

$ 119

Course objectives

Listening to the Body: Helping Patients with Eating Disorders and Body Image Concerns

  • Differentiate 4 eating disorder diagnoses and their respective demographics.
  • Identify 3 assessment questions to evaluate body image concerns.
  • Explain 2 different approaches to treating patients with eating disorders.
  • Describe the impact of weight stigma and size discrimination.

Instructor

Dana Satir, Ph.D.

Dana Satir, Ph.D. was awarded her doctorate in psychology from Boston University in 2012. She completed her clinical internship at the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School in adult community psychiatry and went on to receive advanced training in family-based treatment for eating disorders (Maudsley) during her postdoctoral fellowship at Children's Hospital Colorado. She has received grant funding for her research in anorexia nervosa and published and presented her work on the therapeutic alliance and clinician reactions to patients with eating disorders nationally and internationally. Dr Satir has been in private practice in Boulder, CO, for over a decade, and teaches, trains, and offers consultation in the treatment of eating disorders and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Course Lessons

How It Works

  • View the presentation. Classes are broken into small video segments of less than 30 minutes, so you can come and go as you please.
  • Take the quiz. Answer a few questions after each lesson before you move to the next lesson.
  • Complete the course evaluation.
  • Print your certificate and you're done!

We Make It Easy

  • Handouts from the class are available as PDF files to view or print.
  • Once you've purchased a class, you can view it as many times as you like.
  • Login with your email address and password. It takes you to your personal library/dashboard of all classes you have purchased.
  • Over 90% of professionals report being absolutely satisfied with their online experience!

Levels of Classes

All of our classes are offered at the intermediate level unless otherwise indicated. All classes are designed for experienced mental health professionals.

Test Policy

You need a score of 75% or higher in each lesson/module to move to the next lesson/module. Most people pass on their first attempt. You have up to 3 attempts to pass each module. After 3 failed attempts, you need to contact our office and we will reset the quiz for one more attempt.

Refund Policy

We offer a no-risk guarantee for our online courses. You can view any class for three days, and if not satisfied, contact PPS and we will refund your money in full. This refund offer does not apply if you have completed the class and passed all of the lesson/module quizzes.

Technical Support For On-Demand Courses

Please call 877-777-0668, Monday-Friday from 10 am - 4 pm Pacific Time or email info@psychsem.com.

Questions, Special Needs & Grievances

If you would like additional information, require special accommodations, or have a grievance, please contact Professional Psych Seminars at: toll-free phone: 877-777-0668, phone: 805-371-9443, fax: (805) 371-7443 or email us: info@psychsem.com.

On Demand Course FAQs

How long to I have to complete this class?

There is no time limit. You can take as long as you'd like to complete the class.

Can I sign-up for a class now, even though I don't want to take it for some time in the future?

Yes. Customers often do this when we are running a special, offering you a discounted price.

I lost my certificate. What do I do?

Log in to your account, navigate to the course, and view/print your Certificate.

Do I have to take the entire class at one time or can I stop and come back another time?

You can sign in and out anytime, from any computer, to continue the class. We break our classes into segments of 20 to 30 minutes. You can watch one segment and then come back later. You can even fast forward within a segment.

I am concerned about having to remember everything to take the test. Will this be a problem?

No. We ask you 2 to 3 questions after each 20 to 30 minute video lesson. Answer the questions after each lesson and save your answers. You can come back later and watch another video lesson when you have time. You don't have to remember more than one video lesson at a time. Also, most of our questions are very straight forward. You should have no problem answering them if you've watched the video lesson.

Can you print out the handouts for my on-demand class and send them to me?

No. You can view them online or print them out yourself.

My certificate won’t print. Can you help me?

Hold down the keys Ctrl + P at the same time to access the print screen on your computer.