On September 15, more than 100 health care and mental health care providers from around the nation arrived at scenic Church Landing in Meredith, NH, for the Seventh Eating Disorders Conference. Created by Professor of Health Education and Promotion Mardie Burckes-Miller, director of Plymouth State University’s Eating Disorders Institute, the conference consisted of two days of sessions covering identification and treatment of many kinds of eating disorders. Two renowned keynote speakers, Carolyn Costin and Michael P. Levine, joined 17 session presenters to address topics ranging from prevention, substance abuse, mindfulness, psychopharmacology, weight stigma, and bariatric surgery. Burckes-Miller and alumni of the Eating Disorders Institute held a session on careers in the field.
Burckes-Miller started the biannual conference in 2003 to address the lack of access to education about eating disorders for treatment providers at all levels throughout the United States. “Most treatment providers only have a few hours of education about eating disorders,” she said, explaining that there are many misconceptions about eating disorders. “It’s not a lifestyle choice, it’s a biopsychosocial illness. Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate for any mental illness in the U.S. Thirty million people in the US will suffer from eating disorders—all ages and genders, all economic backgrounds.” According to the National Eating Disorders Association, about 20 percent of college students have had an eating disorder. “For a campus the size of Plymouth State, that could mean 500 or 600 students,” Burckes-Miller noted. Prevention is crucial, and Burckes-Miller now focuses her research on this important factor.
Burckes-Miller credits her partners and sponsors for the continuing success of the conference. These include Plymouth State University, a generous grant from the Hilda & Preston Davis Foundation, and treatment center partners and speakers from Carolina House, Cambridge Eating Disorder Center, Green Mountain Women’s Center for Binge and Emotional Eating, Laureate Eating Disorders Program, McCallum Eating Disorders Centers, Monte Nido, Remuda Ranch, Rogers Behavioral Health, Timberline Knolls, and Walden Behavioral Care.
Plymouth State University’s Eating Disorders Institute is a series of graduate-level courses that can be completed for a 15-credit graduate certificate or added to one of several master’s degree programs as a concentration. The conference itself provides continuing education credits through Commonwealth Educational Seminars for psychologists, social workers, nurses, marriage and family therapists, and licensed clinical mental health counselors. As a university-sponsored activity, dieticians can also receive continuing education units.
For more information on the Eating Disorders Conference and the Eating Disorders Institute, e-mail forgrad@plymouth.edu or call 1-800-FOR-GRAD (367-4723). —Marcia Santore
Tags: Eating Disorders eating disorders institute Mardie Burckes-Miller
