About this course

Learning Objectives

• Define and give two examples of sensory disgust that can lead to experiential avoidance.
• Describe how to adapt exposure practices to effectively address disgust responses in the treatment of eating disorders.
• Develop an individualized exposure hierarchy that targets the disgust response using a case example.

Learning Levels

• All levels

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Melanie T. Smith, LMHC

  Clinical Director, CBT of Central & South Florida

  Melanie Smith, PhD, LMHC, CEDS-C (she/her) is the Clinical Director of CBT of Central & South Florida and is the co-founder of CBT Training & Consultation. Additionally, she is a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist and Approved Consultant (CEDS-C) and became a Certified Therapist & Trainer of the Unified Protocol in 2014. She is the co-author of the Unified Treatment Model for Eating Disorders & Comorbidity: An Adaptation of the Unified Protocol, and was responsible for the training and ongoing supervision of hundreds of clinicians implementing this approach in community-based intensive treatment programs. Dr. Smith serves on the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) Curriculum Committee and is the Education Chair of iaedp's South Florida Chapter. Additionally, she is the Education and Professional Development Chair of the CBT Alliance of Florida. Dr. Smith has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals focused on the development, adaptation, and dissemination and implementation of evidence-based, transdiagnostic treatments and has presented and lectured at professional and academic conferences nationally and internationally.

• 

  Rebecca F. Berman, LCSW-C, MLSP, CEDS

  Clinical Director, Anxiety Institute of McLean, VA

  Rebecca Berman is the Clinical Director of Anxiety Institute in McLean, VA, with over 20 years of experience treating adolescents and adults with eating disorders, anxiety, trauma, and neurodivergence. She holds dual master's degrees from Bryn Mawr College and is a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, Approved Consultant, and Certified Therapist and Trainer with the Unified Protocol Institute. She co-authored The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity>, published by Oxford University Press in 2021. Rebecca regularly presents at professional conferences and provides supervision and consultation to clinicians across disciplines. She is passionate about adapting treatment approaches to meet the needs of neurodiverse individuals.

References

• Broos, H. C., Milgram, L., Port, J. H., & Timpano, K. R. (2025). The Synergistic Relationship of Disgust Propensity and Distress Intolerance with Contamination-Related Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 47(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-025-10202-2
• Kot, E., Grzegorzewski, P., Kostecka, B., & Kucharska, K. (2021). Self‐disgust and disgust sensitivity are increased in anorexia nervosa inpatients, but only self‐disgust mediates between comorbid and core psychopathology. European Eating Disorders Review, 29(6), 879-892. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2862
• Innocenti, M., Santarelli, G., Gironi, V., Faggi, V., Angeletti, L. L., Giaquinta, N., & Ricca, V. (2021). Disgust and anxiety: What came first, the chicken or the egg?. European Psychiatry, 64(S1), S74-S75. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.228