The September meeting was hosted at the home of Dr. Any Henke, who was also our guest speaker. Dr. Henke is a licensed clinical psychologist who practices at Children’s Hospital. She is also the Clinical Director of The Balance Collective, Louisiana’s first and only specialty clinic providing Family Based Treatment for Eating Disorders. She is also a former Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists Board Member and a current Director on the Executive Council of the Louisiana Psychological Association.
In her talk, Dr. Henke focused on the newest diagnostic criteria for eating disorders, as well as the current research on efficacious assessment and treatment with eating disorders. She gave special attention to Family Based Treatment for Eating Disorders (see some of the research here and a discussion of family treatment for eating disorders here). She noted this model of treatment does not blame parents for the problem, and instead focuses on empowering them to play a critical role in their teen’s healing and recovery. Dr. Henke also explained how clinicians can assess readiness for this kind of treatment with their own clients, as well as support this kind of treatment as the referring clinician.