A continuing education webinar for mental health professionals looking to understand and challenge weight stigma.
As helping professionals, it goes without saying that we want to help.
But a group of people, namely, people who live in bodies larger than society’s arbitrary ideal, are all too often forgotten in this work. As a result, not only are we not helping, we may be doing harm.
We work to ensure that all people, regardless of their ability, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, or education are treated with dignity and respect. We work to ensure that all people have access to the resources they need to lead safe, healthy, and meaningful lives. It is our life’s work.
That's why I developed Taking Care, a webinar to help you practice with size inclusivity and social justice.
Fat activist and author Aubrey Gordon defines weight stigma, also called anti-fat bias, as “the attitudes, behaviors, and social systems that specifically marginalize, exclude, underserve, and oppress fat bodies.”
“We are programmed from a very young age to associate fatness with bad things … [and] counselors are not immune from socialized viewpoints and messages,” says Kaitlyn Forristal, an assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at New England College.
In fact, forty-two percent of US adults say they have faced some form of weight stigma, with health care providers and coworkers listed as some of the most common sources (Lee, K. M., et al., International Journal of Obesity, Vol. 45, 2021; Puhl, R. M., et al., International Journal of Obesity, Vol. 45, 2021).
Understandably, this contributes to worse physical and psychological health outcomes, that is, lives that are less safe, less healthy, and less meaningful.
But when we know better, we do better.
This webinar provides an opportunity for participants to explore weight stigma, including what it is, the harmful ways in which it manifests, and the helping professional’s role in addressing it.
3 CE's
Live Question & answer session
Convenient virtual format
“One of the best prepared presenters I’ve seen"
“An important topic that was presented with the nuance it deserves!”
"SUCH a necessary topic, and I am so so so thankful for the presentation."
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Taking Care: Practicing with Size Inclusivity and Social Justice, course #5345, is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credits. Social workers completing this course receive 2 cultural competence and 1 ethics continuing education credits.
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