The Symbolic Language of Eating Disorders: Food, Body, and Meaning-Making in the Consulting Room

Instructor
Michelle Scott, LCSW

1 class session
Tuesday January 14
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Location
In-person seminar at The Alamo Psychotherapy and Training
6401 Ruby Street, Los Angels, CA, 90042

1.5 CEs offered for qualifying professionals

Course fee
$40 / $25

“Greed turns up when we lose faith in our appetites, when what we need is not available. In this view it is not that appetite is excessive; it is that our fear of frustration is excessive.”
-Adam Phillips, On Balance

In this 1.5-hour clinical training, participants will explore the complex symbolic meanings of food and body in eating disorders through a psychodynamic lens. Drawing from object relations theory and contemporary psychoanalytic thought, Michelle Scott, LCSW, will illuminate how disordered eating serves as a language for early attachment wounds, unmet developmental needs, and struggles with self-differentiation. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of food as a transitional object, its role in emotional regulation, and the symbolic meanings behind different presentations such as restriction, binging, and purging. .

The session will combine didactic learning with case consultation, allowing participants to deepen their clinical understanding and discuss challenges in their own work. Special attention will be paid to working with shame, control, and embodiment in the therapeutic relationship. This training is ideal for mental health professionals working with eating disorders or interested in psychodynamic approaches to treatment. Clinicians will leave with an enhanced theoretical framework and practical insights for working with this complex population.

Instructor Credentials

Michelle Scott, LCSW, earned her Master's in Social Work from USC and completed the Post Graduate Fellowship Program in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at the Wright Institute, Los Angeles. Her clinical background spans medical social work in hospitals and therapy in substance abuse treatment centers. Grounded in psychodynamic and attachment theories, Michelle specializes in trauma work, with particular expertise in women's health issues and reproductive trauma.

For more information or questions contact us here.

No known conflict of interest or commercial support for Michelle Harwell Therapy, The Alamo Psychotherapy and Training, or the instructor.