PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
EMOTION FOCUSED SKILLS TRAINING (EFST) FOR DISORDERED EATING
LEARN EMOTION FOCUSED SKILLS TO HELP INDIVIDUALS WITH EATING DISORDERS
REGISTER FOR OUR MAY 2025 TRAINING
Disordered eating can result in a complex course of seemingly insurmountable challenges not only for individual sufferers but also for the families and professionals involved. The severity of medical and emotional complications has led to an attitude toward these individuals that they are unmotivated and difficult to treat, and to a reality of alarmingly high rates of relapse, chronicity, and mortality. This has resulted in stigma and fear in the face of disordered eating, and hopelessness regarding the possibility of full recovery.
In Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents (EFST-P) we invite you to consider an alternative formulation. We understand disordered eating in light of the individual’s need to cope with painful emotional experience. As such, we see the individual as having agency and therefore needing to be at the helm of their own journey of recovery and wellness. We enlist parents as key figures of support and guidance in that journey. And we train professionals in the emotion focused approach to disordered eating and in EFST-P, so that they can guide and coach parents to adopt that crucial role with competence and confidence.
EFST-P for disordered eating addresses the unique challenges faced by these parents and recognizes that parental self-efficacy often plays a more significant role in treatment outcomes than the individual’s own self-efficacy. Interventions focus on empowering parents with the necessary tools to support their loved one’s recovery, including:
- Developing effective empathy for their loved one’s struggles (and for their own struggles as parents!)
- Addressing the “competing motivations” that create obstacles to recovery, in their loved one and in themselves as parents as they each face their own fears
- Making amends for past injuries and losses
- Restoring the faith they need in themselves to establish and maintain the “boundaries without judgment” that are essential for recovery
Note: that the approach is for parents of a loved one of any age – little, adolescent, or adult. A background in working with families or children is not required. This training places a strong emphasis on experiential learning.
Who Should Enroll
- Therapists & Mental Health Professionals seeking specialized skills in working with parents.
- Social Service And Healthcare Professionals supporting parents, children and families.
- Educators And Professional Caregivers: looking to enhance emotional support in their roles.
This program provides a thorough understanding of the EFST framework and equips professionals with the skills to utilize the model with Parents of a loved one with disordered eating.
When Is The Next Training
May 2025 4 Sessions every Friday for 4 weeks between 10 AM to 5 PM ET
- Session 1: May 9, 2025
- Session 2: May 16, 2025
- Session 3: May 23, 2025
- Session 4: May 30, 2025
What Is The Training Format
- Online via Zoom
What Is The Cost
- Early Bird Fee: $749 USD - until Feb 28, 2025 (inclusive of applicable taxes)
- Regular Fee: $999 USD (inclusive of applicable taxes)
What Is Included
- Certificate: Upon successful participation and completion of all four sessions of the training, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Emotion Training Institute (ETI).
- Online Course / Reference: Have access to our EFST-P Online Course for 365 days, to help with reference and future practice.
- Community Support: Lifetime access to our community of EFST professionals. Including options for support and guidance from our trainers through mentorship events.
What is Emotion Focused Skills Training for Parents?
Emotion Focused Skills Training (EFST) for Parents is an innovative, ultra-simple and quickly effective parent support program. EFST supports parents by empowering them as active, primary agents in guiding loved ones (of any age, little, adolescent or adult,) through the behavioural, emotional and relational challenges of everyday living and relating, as well as through the challenges their loved ones face when struggling with a mental health issue, a physical health issue, or any other special challenge. This is an emotion-processing, skills-based approach that gives parents simple, practical tools that they can implement immediately in their family. These skills include how to navigate the confusing world of their child’s feelings, how to work with challenges in their child’s motivation, and how to restore their ability to set appropriate boundaries while also restoring positive, productive relationships with their children of any age.
YOUR TRAINER
Trainer Dr. Michelle Emmerling
Dr. Emmerling is a Registered Psychologist who has been working in private practice for the past 11 years. She co-founded the Alberta Wellness Center for Eating Disorders and owns Emmerling Psychology, both private practices in Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Emmerling has specialized training from Dr. Joanne Dolhanty, the creator of Emotion Focused Skills Training (EFST), and is a national and international trainer and supervisor in the model. Her specific skill set is working with EFST with eating disorders.
Additionally, Dr. Emmerling has professional training and experience working with individuals, couples, and families struggling with eating disorders, body image concerns, disordered eating, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and perfectionism. She has been primarily focused on the treatment and research of eating disorders for the past 18 years.
She has a passion for working with caregivers who are supporting their loved one’s recovery and believes in the healing power of families in eating disorder treatment.
Among other techniques, Dr. Emmerling has training in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), EMDR, Mindfulness, DBT, CBT, and Somatic Experiencing and Body-based Skills.
OUR FOUNDER
Founder & Lead Instructor Joanne Dolhanty
Dr. Joanne Dolhanty, PhD, C. Psych, is a clinical psychologist and the developer of Emotion Focused Skills Training (EFST).
In collaboration with Dr. Leslie Greenberg, she also developed the application of Emotion Focused Therapy to Eating Disorders.
She provides a lively and warm training atmosphere which facilitates personal growth as well as learning. She is known for turning complex change concepts into usable tools.
Dr. Dolhanty teaches and trains individuals, parents, professionals and organizations across Canada and internationally.