About this course

Learning Objectives

• Identify three provider-based factors that may contribute to perceived non-compliance in eating disorder treatment.
• Utilize compassion-based strategies, including self-enquiry and rupture-repair protocols, to engage clients presenting with ambivalence or resistance.
• Explain three interdisciplinary collaboration practices that support attunement, flexibility, and alignment among eating disorder treatment team members.

Learning Levels

• Intermediate
• Advanced

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Sydney Williams,LCSW, CEDS-C

  Sydney Williams has worked in the field of eating disorders since 2008 and is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Consultant (CEDS-C) as well as a Certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant-in-Training (CIT). Her clinical expertise spans eating disorders, body image, trauma, LGBTQIA+ affirming care, neurodivergence, and OCD.

  Before entering private practice, Sydney spent a decade at one of the nation’s largest eating disorder treatment centers, where she served as the Residential Clinical Director for six years. In that role, she oversaw all therapist trainings and provided supervision and mentorship to new clinicians, interns, and associate-level therapists—helping shape a generation of compassionate and capable providers.

  Sydney now leads a small group practice in American Fork, Utah, dedicated to trauma-informed, inclusive, and evidence-based care for individuals navigating eating disorders and related concerns.

  Together with her colleague and co-founder, Kathy Spencer, Sydney co-created The Eating Disorder Consultants and the Integrated Compassionate Approach (ICA) framework. After years of witnessing the gap in accessible, quality training for therapists, Sydney and Kathy developed two 12-CEU trainings designed to teach clinicians how to treat eating disorders from the ground up. Their mission is simple but bold: to make eating disorder education accessible to all therapists—because eating disorder treatment is general mental health treatment.

  Sydney regularly presents at national conferences, bringing her signature warmth, humor, and deep clinical insight to help professionals integrate compassion, curiosity, and attunement into their practice. She believes that when clinicians are equipped to understand eating disorders, they are better able to help all clients heal their relationship with food, body, and self.

• 

  Kathy Spencer, LCSW, MHPE

  Kathy Spencer is a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Rose Mountain Counseling in Orem, Utah. She brings over a decade of leadership and clinical experience to her work, blending expertise in psychology, nutrition, and health promotion to help individuals and professionals approach eating disorder recovery with compassion and clarity.

  Kathy holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from Brigham Young University, as well as a Master’s degree in Health Promotion from the University of Utah, where she focused on eating disorder prevention. Her dual backgrounds in mental health and nutrition uniquely position her to address the complex intersection of body, mind, and behavior in recovery.

  Before founding her private practice, Kathy served as Program Director for an adult residential eating disorder program, where she led clinical operations, developed programming, and trained staff in trauma-informed care and verbal de-escalation. With more than ten years of management and training experience, she has a deep passion for mentoring clinicians and creating environments where both staff and clients can thrive.

  Kathy is also the co-founder of The Eating Disorder Consultants, an organization dedicated to training and supporting professionals in the effective, compassionate treatment of eating disorders. Through this work, she helps bridge the gap between theory and practice empowering clinicians to approach their clients with skill, confidence, and heart.

  In her clinical practice, Kathy specializes in eating disorders and disordered eating, body image, women’s issues, anxiety, and trauma, utilizing evidence-based modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Kathy is a certified EMDR therapiast. Known for her grounded presence and integrative approach, she helps clients rebuild safety, trust, and connection with themselves and others

• 

  Kayla Jessop , RDN, CEDS-C

  Kayla Jessop (she/her), RDN, CEDS-C, is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian, approved supervisor and RO DBT Clinical Scholar. She owns a group practice of dietitians in Utah who offer individual nutrition therapy for folks with eating disorders. Through her practice she also offers RO DBT skills class, meal support, and group work. Kayla is an expert on Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, and improving people's relationship with food. She is an Anti-Diet registered dietitian who has specialized in helping individuals of all ages regain peace with food and body.

References

• Muzi, L., Carone, N., Mirabella, M., Franco, A., Rugo, M. A., Mazzeschi, C., & Lingiardi, V. (2024). Direct and indirect effects of psychological well-being and therapeutic alliance on therapy outcome in eating disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1392887
• Ulven, O., Stige, S. H., & Danielsen, Y. S. (2025). Premature termination of eating disorder treatment – A qualitative study of therapist perspectives. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1), 76. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01268-0
• Isaksson, M., Ghaderi, A., Ramklint, M., & Wolf-Arehult, M. (2021). Radically open dialectical behavior therapy for anorexia nervosa: A multiple baseline single-case experimental design study across 13 cases. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 71, 101637.