SCAN Career Tip
Sheet Series
Treating disordered eating (DE) and eating disorders (EDs) can be a rewarding and challenging specialty for dietitians. If you are interested in pursuing a career in this area, the following suggestions are offered to assist you in this endeavor.
Evaluate your personal struggle:
If you have been attracted to the field of dietetics as a result of a personal struggle with DE or an ED, your experience can benefit your compassion, but it does not count as a credential. Be certain that you have addressed and resolved these issues to a point where they will not affect your ability to be objective and client-focused prior to working with this population of clients/patients.
Pursue additional education:
When specializing in EDs/DE, you may find that traditional training in the field of dietetics is not adequate preparation. Where your past experience may have been geared more toward providing education (re: eating and nutrition), ED work will require additional education in the areas of psychology and counseling. Seek out related continuing education, and if you choose to make this your specialty, consider getting a graduate degree in the field of counseling or psychology. This will better equip you to deal with personality disorders, understand the family systems component of treating eating disorders and prepare you to work in a variety of settings.
Be prepared to be part of an ED treatment team:
Understand the multi-disciplinary team approach to treating EDs. ED work will require you to be a team player with physicians, psychiatrists and therapists. It is considered unethical for a dietitian to be the only health professional treating a patient with frank anorexia or bulimia nervosa.
Psychiatric terms and medications:
Become familiar with psychiatric terms and medications.
Become familiar with the Ancel Keys Starvation Study:
Become familiar with the Ancel Keys University of Minnesota study done in the 1940’s regarding the effects of semi starvation on behavior and brain functioning. This study underscores the contribution dietary restriction makes to the development of EDs and DE. (You will never look at dieting the same!)
Read, read, read:
Read a variety of newsletters, journals and books to further your education in the field of EDs.
Network with all health professionals:
Begin networking with non-dietetic professionals in your area who have experience treating eating disorders. Therapists, licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) and physicians can broaden your scope of knowledge and become great referral sources.
Join professional associations:
Join professional organizations such as The Academy for Eating Disorders, National Eating Disorders Association or The International Association for Eating Disorders Professionals. This will provide you with additional networking and educational opportunities. Membership in The Academy for Eating Disorders includes a subscription to the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Seek supervision:
Strongly consider receiving supervision from an expert in the field for at least the first year or two of working with clients struggling with EDs and DE. This can be from a master’s level dietitian specializing in DE/ED work or other mental health professionals. This is generally a fee for service arrangement. If you are in private practice, this is tax deductible. If you are not in private practice, and your employer will not pay for supervision, it is deductible if you itemize as non-reimbursed employee expense.
Attend conferences:
Attend conferences directed toward providing continuing education in the field of treating eating disorders, such as the SCAN Symposium, Renfrew Center Foundation Conference, Academy of Eating Disorders (AED), International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP), and local functions.
Understand diagnoses thoroughly:
Understand the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED) and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS), but never pigeon hole your clients.
Treat the whole person:
Always treat the individual … not just the eating disorder. Never assume the diagnosis is the person!
Author:
Reba Sloan, MPH, RD, FAED, Nutrition Therapist, Nashville, TN
Reviewers:
Jessica Setnick, MS, RD/LD, Understanding Nutrition, Dallas, TX
Molly Kellogg, RD, LCSW, Psychotherapist/Nutrition Therapist, Philadelphia, PA
Suzanne Girard Eberle, MS, RD, Eat, Drink, Win!®, Portland, OR
Updated June 2006.
