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Anorexia Nervosa (AN) can be explained as arising from a ‘lost sense of emotional self.’ Reviewing evidence accumulated to date supporting the consensus that a complex range of genetic, biological, psychological, and socio-environmental risk and maintenance factors contribute to the development and maintenance of AN. Many risk and maintenance factors may be unified by an underpinning explanation of emotional processing difficulties leading to a lost sense of ‘emotional self.’ Once established, AN becomes ‘self-perpetuating’ and the ‘lost sense of emotional self’ relentlessly deepens. This 2 Hour CE course will explore in detail, drawing on empirical and neuroscientific data, before discussing the implications of the lost sense of emotional self-model for understanding AN and informing clinical intervention. Experiential models of therapy (e.g., emotion-focused therapy; schema therapy) are suggested to be employed to achieve emergence and integration of an ‘emotional self’ which can be flexibly and adaptively used to direct an individual’s needs and relationships. 

Please review the course materials prior to purchasing the course. Often, individuals will print a copy of the course worksheet to complete while they read the course text. Once you are ready to complete the course, please enroll in the course and complete the course requirements, including the course post-test and course survey. You will receive your certificate automatically for printing or downloading after achieving an 80% or higher on the post-test and completing the course survey. 

Anorexia Nervosa and Loss of Emotional Self Course Text.pdf

Anorexia Nervosa and a Loss of Emotional Self Course Worksheet.pdf

Course Author:  Bryan Glazier, PhD, LMFT, LMHC 

Course Time/Location:  Course Hours, (Anytime: web-based home study)

Course Text: 

Oldershaw, A., Startup, H., & Lavender, T. (2019). Anorexia Nervosa and a Lost Emotional Self: A Psychological Formulation of the Development, Maintenance, and Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 219. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00219

This article was used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses.

Learning Objectives:

Through the completion of this course, learners will gain awareness of what is by the terms “lost sense of emotional self” in relationship to Anorexia Nervosa.  The participant will:

1. Review the Current Perspectives, Models and Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa.
2. Examine the Emotional Difficulties in Anorexia Nervosa.
3. Explore the Development of Anorexia Nervosa
4. Introduce the Perception of the Decreasing Self
5. Propose the development of Psychological Interventions based on the “Lost Emotional Self” Theory.

Course Syllabus:

1. Introduction
   1. Risk and Maintenance Factors Associated with Anorexia Nervosa
   2. Current Clinical Perspectives, Models and Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa
2. Emotional Difficulties in Anorexia Nervosa
   1. Emotional Avoidance as a Maintenance Factor for Anorexia Nervosa
   2. Emotional Avoidance and the Impact on Development of Self in Anorexia Nervosa
3. Development of Anorexia Nervosa
   1. Infancy and Early Life
   2. Adolescence
4. Perpetuation of Anorexia Nervosa: The Ever Decreasing ‘Self’
   1. Emotional Over-Regulation and Perpetuation of Interpersonal Patterns
   2. Starvation Effects
   3. Anorexia Nervosa as a Lost Sense of Emotional Self
5. Clinical Conceptualization and Practice
   1. Addressing Poor Integrated Sense of ‘Emotional Self’ in Psychological Therapy