“I Want You to Want Me: Understanding Desire in the Treatment of an Eating Disorder” presented by Amy H. Olson, LCSW, CEDS-C

Location: Zoom
2 CEU credits available
MSPP Member: Free
MITPP Candidate: Free
Non MSPP Member: $50 per individual, $30 student
RSVP by Friday, May 17th, 2024
Register here.

Eating disorders are often referred to as “disorders of desire.” But what lies beneath this mysterious designation?

For patients with an eating disorder, the development of desire has gone awry. Stuck concretizing desire in food, weight, and shape, their focus is on being an object of desire (Am I thin enough? Smart enough? Good enough?) rather than becoming a desiring subject whose impact is felt. Finding, articulating, and elaborating desire must be a cornerstone of recovery.

The presenter will draw insights from the myth of Persephone and Demeter, along with psychoanalytic theory and case examples, to understand factors that facilitate or foreclose the development of desire. Special attention will be given to the process of separation and individuation from the maternal relationship and the significance of the paternal function in the recovery from an eating disorder.

Although ideas in this presentation apply to all eating disorders and gender identities, emphasis is focused on women with anorexia.

Learning Objectives

After attending this presentation, participants will be able to:

● To develop a comprehensive understanding of why an eating disorder may be referred to as a “disorder of desire.”

● Identify several unconscious collusions between the child and the primary caregiver that impede the development of agency and increase vulnerability to an eating disorder.

● Evaluate the significant influence of the paternal function on women’s cultivation of desire, agency, and susceptibility to eating disorders.

● Be more comfortable building a shared language of desire with women with eating disorders.

About the Presenter

Amy Olson, LCSW, CEDS-C, is a licensed psychotherapist, certified eating disorders specialist, and International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals approved consultant. She graduated from the Intensive Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program at the William Alanson White Institute and the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions Program also at the White Institute.

She received the 2016 Teachers Academy Fellowship from The American Psychoanalytic Association. In 2023, she published her first book, Chrome & Creativity: Expressive Pole Dance, Embodiment and Psychic Change.

Throughout her 24-year-long private practice in Cary, NC, Amy has demonstrated a commitment to helping individuals recover from eating disorders and explore a healthier relationship with their bodies. She is deeply interested in understanding how women develop a sense of self in the world, exploring mind-body issues, and investigating personal growth through creative movement practices.

If you wish to attend this presentation, please complete the following form.