1.5 CE hours; $65
Overview.
MED-DBT Module 2 introduces the biological components of the adapted biosocial theory in MED-DBT, expanding beyond standard DBT’s focus on emotion dysregulation.
Clinicians are guided through the role of genetic, metabolic, neurobiological, and sensory–interoceptive processes in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Participants will examine how nutritional status, starvation, and metabolic dysregulation impact brain function, emotion regulation capacity, and behavioral control.
The module also explores how reward and punishment systems, habit circuitry, and interoceptive disturbances shape eating disorder behaviors across diagnoses. Emphasis is placed on reframing eating disorder behaviors as biologically reinforced adaptations rather than failures of motivation or willpower, and on integrating these processes into case conceptualization and treatment planning within MED-DBT.
Attention is also given to how neurodiversity, sensory sensitivity, and systemic invalidation influence the experience and interpretation of eating disorder symptoms across diverse populations.
Behavioral Learning Objectives
By the end of this module, participants will be able to:
- Describe key biological mechanisms implicated in eating disorders, including metabolic, neurobiological, and sensory–interoceptive processes.
- Explain how nutritional status (e.g., malnutrition, weight suppression) impacts emotion regulation capacity and cognitive control.
- Differentiate between standard DBT’s biosocial model and the MED-DBT adapted model with respect to biological contributions to eating disorders.
- Apply a biologically informed framework to clinical scenarios to reduce misattributions of eating disorder behaviors as willful or purely cognitive.
Instructor Credentials
Anita Federici, PhD, CPsych, FAED, is a Clinical Psychologist and the Owner of The Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation. She serves an Adjunct Faculty position at York University and is a distinguished Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED).
Wisniewski and Federici have co-authored a book on MED-DBT that is scheduled for 2025 release by Guilford Press.
Lucene Wisniewski, Ph.D., FAED, is a recognized clinician, trainer, researcher, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, who has taught over 150 workshops on Cognitive Behavioral and Dialectical Behavior Therapies internationally and has over 40 publications in peer reviewed journals and invited book chapters. She specializes in complex, co-morbid eating disorders, and is the Owner and Chief Clinical Officer of the Center for Evidence Based Treatment serving clients across the United States and Wisniewski Psychology Services, PLLC in New York.
Recommended readings
Haynos, A. F., Anderson, L. M., Askew, A. J., Craske, M. G., & Peterson, C. B. (2021). Adapting a neuroscience-informed intervention to alter reward mechanisms of anorexia nervosa: A novel direction for future research. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9, 63.
Watson, H. J., Yilmaz, Z., Thornton, L. M., Hübel, C., Coleman, J. R. I., Gaspar, H. A., Bryois, J., Hinney, A., Leppä, V. M., Mattheisen, M., Medland, S. E., Ripke, S., Yao, S., Giusti-Rodríguez, P., … Bulik, C. M. (2019). Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa. Nature Genetics, 51(8), 1207–1214.
Zucker, N. L., & Bulik, C. M. (2020). On bells, saliva, and abdominal pain or discomfort: Early aversive visceral conditioning and vulnerability for anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders.
MAY
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