Our culture is obsessed with weight loss and idolizes thinness, equating it to health. This westernized view of "health" has contributed to serious harms and deficiencies in care delivery across disciplines. Weight-inclusive care, grounded in the principles of Health At Every Size ® (HAES), is a contemporary framework that challenges our assumptions about weight and health, and offers an inclusive, alternative approach to the treatment and care of bodies at all sizes.
This 90-minute webinar will explore the problems and harms associated with the dominant, weight-centric paradigm and approach to care, especially for those in larger bodies. Attendees will learn how to address those problems and expand their understanding of what it means to provide weight-inclusive care. Attendees will learn the principles of Health At Every Size ®, learn how to identify their own biases around size and health, and move towards creating a more inclusive
treatment environment for all bodies.
Heather Clark, LCPC, LPC, MA is a licensed counselor, focusing on disordered eating, including binge eating disorder, bulimia, anorexia, orthorexia, body dissatisfaction, and diet culture. She is the Clinical Director for Rock Recovery, an eating disorder nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia. She blends several approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, the Internal Family Systems Model, and Relational-Cultural Therapy, and always centers weight-inclusivity and trauma-informed care. She also enjoys counseling those dealing with anxiety, shame, self-compassion, and Christian spirituality/spiritual trauma. Heather is currently working towards becoming a Certified Body Trust® Provider, which helps equip her to support folks journeying toward freedom with food and a deep sense of being at home in their bodies. Heather earned her B.A. in Mass Communications in 2007, and her M.A. in Professional Counseling in 2015.
Natasia James, MS is a Resident in Counseling with Rock Recovery. She received her Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2021 at the University of Kentucky. She has a wide breadth of experience in the mental health field, including experience with both adolescents and adults with eating disorders in the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient levels of care. Her approach is to create a space for clients to feel comfortable and safe, encourage self-exploration to resolve core issues regarding their disordered eating/negative body image, and help clients to evolve in their authenticity. She is passionate about creating inclusive spaces, and access to high quality of care for under-resourced communities.
