Last week we had our first two-day Diet Workshop for Professionals and it was so great to spend more time with our attendees! Throughout the workshop, we realized just how many advantages there are to having an extra day. We were able to go into more depth on our customary topics and cover many others that we don’t usually have time for, such as helping clients set up and institute a consistent exercise program, deal with anxiety about getting on the scale, and put systems in place f
or lifetime maintenance.
We also were able to do many more demonstration role-plays as well as have our participants practice doing role plays with each other, which we then discussed as a group and came up with suggestions for the difficulties they had. In one demonstration role play, a dieter named “Kate” was having trouble with her food pusher mother and was anticipating that at her father’s upcoming birthday celebration, it would be very difficult for her to stick to her plan of not having cake.
In the role play, I first found why Kate didn’t want to have the cake. I asked her why else it was worth it to her to not eat the cake and then we discussed what thoughts she might have that could lead to breaking her resolve. Kate told me that one thought she might have is, “But I really like cake and it tastes good.” I then asked Kate, “How much enjoyment do you think you’d get from the cake if you ate it at the party, knowing that you hadn’t planned to and knowing that you were once again giving in to your mother’s food pushing?” Kate told me that the guilt and annoyance she would feel would greatly diminish the pleasure of eating the cake and we discussed the fact that the thought of eating the cake would actually be better than the reality of doing so. It was important for Kate to realize this so she could be more firm with herself, which in turn would help her be more firm with her mother, too. Next, Kate and I discussed what her mother might say to her on that day and exactly what she could say in response.
One participant posted the following (unsolicited) message on the Beck Diet Solution Facebook page, which made us feel very gratified: I just completed a two-day workshop on CBT for Weight Loss (for clinicians) at the Beck Institute. What a fantastic opportunity! I learned valuable lessons from Debbie (Deborah Beck Busis) and Judy (Dr. Judith Beck). Their depth of knowledge and their expertise in conveying information to the audience was phenomenal. This was one of the best training experiences I’ve ever had in my life. We were also treated at the end by receiving a surprise visit from the distinguished Professor Aaron Beck. He graciously answered our questions, although many of us including me were speechless. I would like to thank all the employees of Beck Institute who made this opportunity possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We are thrilled to have been able to give our participants concrete strategies to use with their clients and had a great time during the workshop. We’re looking forward to doing it again in November!
For more information on our Beck Diet Solution workshops either for professionals or for consumers, click here: https://www.beckinstitute.org/cbt-training/diet-workshops/