Rebecca Berman, LCSW-C, CEDS, MLSP, is the Clinical Training Specialist at the Renfrew Center. She specializes in treating eating disorders, self-injurious behavior and trauma. Ms. Berman holds two graduate degrees from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, one in Clinical Social Work and one in Law and Social Policy. She also maintains a private practice in Arlington, VA and Bethesda, MD. She provides trauma supervision to Renfrew’s identified trauma therapists throughout the country. Ms. Berman is a member of the Eating Disorders Coalition, the Academy of Eating Disorders, the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, Binge Eating Disorder Association and the National Association of Social Workers.
Healing from an eating disorder and trauma is often a complex and difficult process for both clinician and client. The challenges of that process are lessened, and the therapeutic alliance strengthened, when the clinician, through the use of compassion, is able to help the client recognize the eating disorder’s role as an adaptive response to protect her/him/them from emotions and experiences that have become too difficult to tolerate. This presentation will provide attendees with a transdiagnostic and Cognitive Processing Therapy approach to the treatment of individuals with eating disorders and trauma. A specific focus on trauma in populations at mid-life as well as in the transgender community will also be addressed. Attendees will learn strategies to assist their clients in embracing the strength and resiliency so vital to tolerating and experiencing their emotions while staying anchored in the moment. Through the use of case examples, this workshop will address themes of esteem, trust, control, and intimacy.