Bristol Counselling and Psychotherapy is now offering a certified 2 day Advanced Eating Disorder Practice CPD Workshop. 

This 2 day workshop for counsellors and psychotherapists is to be held in person and also online over selected weekends at 7 hours per day. 

This workshop is certified by The CPD Certification Service, demonstrating that it meets rigorous professional standards. This accreditation ensures that counsellors and psychotherapists receive high-quality, evidence-informed training and up-to-date knowledge to support safe, ethical and effective practice in this specialist area.

 

In an era marked by increasing anxiety, social comparison, and identity fragmentation, eating disorders have become a significant and growing concern across the UK. Beneath the visible symptoms of restriction, control, or compulsion lie profound psychological conflicts—often rooted in early relational experiences, attachment patterns, and struggles around autonomy, shame, and self-worth.

Who is this course for?

For counsellors and psychotherapists, understanding these deeper dynamics is essential. Many clients who present with anxiety, depression, or relationship difficulties may also be living with disordered eating patterns that function as unconscious communications of distress. Without appropriate training, these powerful underlying meanings can remain unacknowledged, leaving both client and counsellor caught in cycles of misunderstanding or therapeutic impasse.

Learning Outcomes:

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of eating disorders as complex psychological, relational, and symptom-based conditions, including the impact of starvation, trauma, and neurobiology on cognition, emotion, and behaviour
• Recognise and differentiate key eating disorder presentations using DSM/ICD frameworks alongside clinical judgement
• Apply psychodynamic thinking and integrate a range of therapeutic approaches (e.g. CBT-E, attachment-based, interpersonal) within a coherent treatment framework
• Formulate eating disorders using a biopsychosocial and relational lens, and work confidently with complex presentations including restriction, bingeing, purging, and comorbid difficulties
• Assess risk, work safely and ethically, recognise when referral is required, and understand the role of family, carers, and wider systems, while using their own emotional responses within the therapeutic relationship
• Eating Disorders and Neurodivergence
• Men and eating disorders

 

DAY 1 (7 HOURS)

The first day of the workshop will be divided into two parts. The morning session will begin by exploring food, hunger and appetite, considering the physiological and psychological processes that shape our relationship with food. Participants will reflect on what constitutes a “normal” relationship with food and how eating patterns develop over time. We will examine the Minnesota Starvation Experiment and use its findings to explore how starvation affects the brain, behaviour, emotions, personality and physical functioning. A facilitated group discussion will help participants connect this learning with the experiences and behaviours they may encounter when working with eating disorders in clinical practice.

The afternoon session will focus on body image, self-worth and the continuum from ordered eating through disordered eating to a diagnosable eating disorder. Participants will explore how culture, family relationships, gender expectations, social media and wider societal pressures can influence a person’s relationship with food and their body. We will also consider how eating disorders are defined and diagnosed, who is responsible for making a diagnosis, and the complexities and limitations of diagnostic criteria. This will include an introduction to the DSM and ICD frameworks and the principal diagnostic categories.

A strong focus will be placed on neurodivergence and eating disorders, including the ways autism, ADHD and AuDHD may influence eating patterns, sensory experiences, emotional regulation, interoception, executive functioning and the need for routine or control. Participants will consider how eating disorders may present differently in neurodivergent clients, why these presentations can be misunderstood or missed, and how therapeutic work may need to be adapted to offer more responsive and inclusive support.

We will also explore eating disorders in men, an increasingly important but still under-recognised area of practice. Participants will consider how stigma, gender stereotypes, muscularity ideals and assumptions about who develops an eating disorder can prevent men from recognising their difficulties or seeking help. We will examine the ways eating disorders may present differently in men, including compulsive exercise, rigid dietary practices and a drive for muscularity, and consider why traditional assessment and diagnostic approaches may fail to identify them. This will support practitioners to recognise less stereotypical presentations and work more confidently and inclusively with a broader range of clients.

 

DAY 2 (7 HOURS)

The second day will begin with a detailed exploration of different eating-disorder presentations, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, compulsive eating, obesity, diabulimia, muscle dysmorphia or bigorexia, and other or less commonly recognised presentations. We will consider their history and prevalence, together with their physical, physiological, psychological and relational effects. Participants will then explore a range of approaches to understanding and formulating eating disorders, including multidimensional models, the Five Ps formulation, attachment theory, CBT-E and psychodynamic thinking. This will support participants to consider not only the presenting symptoms, but also the emotional, developmental and relational experiences that may contribute to how an eating disorder develops and is maintained.

The afternoon session will bring theory into clinical practice. Participants will consider relevant research and lived-experience material before exploring UK inpatient and outpatient treatment options, including an overview of the Maudsley Method. The session will address assessment, safe contracting, safeguarding, professional boundaries and the responsibilities of counsellors working with eating-disorder presentations. We will also explore how eating disorders affect the wider family system and how practitioners can support parents and carers without positioning them as the cause of the problem. Particular attention will be given to mealtime challenges, the emotional impact on families and the collaborative principle that “it’s us against the eating disorder.” Practical guidance will help families support their loved one while also protecting their own wellbeing. The workshop will conclude with reflection, discussion and an opportunity for participants to consolidate their learning.

 

This intensive two-day workshop is designed for counsellors and psychotherapists seeking to deepen their understanding of eating disorders from a therapeutically informed perspective. Drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches—including psychodynamic, attachment theory, CBT-E, and interpersonal models—the training explores the complex interplay between body, mind, and relationship in the development and maintenance of disordered eating.

Participants will examine the underlying psychological meanings of eating disorder behaviours, including issues of control, shame, identity, and autonomy. The workshop integrates theory with practical application, supporting clinicians to assess risk, work safely, and respond effectively to a range of presentations including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and other related conditions.

Through case discussion, experiential exercises, and reflective practice, participants will enhance their capacity to work with both the individual and relational dynamics present in eating disorders, including transference, countertransference, and family systems. The training emphasises developing a thoughtful, attuned therapeutic stance when working with this complex client group.

This workshop will be in person in Bristol and will be offered online in 2027. You will be issued with a certificate of completion at the end of the workshop.

READ ABOUT YOUR TUTOR HERE. 

To express your interest please send us an email and we will come back to you with further details.

hello@bristolcounsellingandpsychotherapy.co.uk

Or call/text us and leave a message on 07751 271709 – We will return your call within 48 hours.

Costing:

£240

£200 early bird – (early bird ends 1 month before the workshop date.)

Workshop Dates:

 

 

 

 

Workshop Cancellation Policy

We reserve the right to cancel or postpone this workshop in exceptional circumstances, including facilitator illness, unforeseen events, or insufficient participant numbers. In the unlikely event that this occurs, all booked participants will be notified as soon as possible and will be offered either:

• a full refund, or
• the option to transfer their booking to a future workshop date.

Bristol Counselling and Psychotherapy cannot accept responsibility for any additional costs incurred by attendees, including travel, accommodation, or loss of earnings.

If a participant needs to cancel their booking, the following terms apply:

• Cancellations made 21 days or more before the workshop start date will receive a full refund.
• Cancellations made within 7–20 days of the workshop will receive a 50% refund.
• Unfortunately, cancellations made less than 7 days before the workshop are non-refundable.

However, bookings may be transferred to another attendee at any time with prior written notice.

We understand that unexpected situations can arise and will always aim to respond fairly and compassionately where possible.