CPD Event title: Working with Eating Disorders
Brief Description Of Event:
Adapting Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for Safe and Effective Work with Eating Disorders.
This course is designed to deepen practitioners’ understanding of eating disorders and provide a clear, ethical framework for adapting the Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) model to support clients safely and appropriately. With between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK affected — around 25% of whom are male — the need for informed, ethical and clinically aware practitioners has never been greater. Early intervention is key, and understanding how to respond appropriately can significantly improve outcomes.
The training will support you in understanding the distinction between disordered eating and diagnosable eating disorders, recognising early warning signs, and knowing how to respond safely. You will learn how to carry out appropriate risk assessments, understand when it is not suitable to work with a client, and how to safeguard individuals where there may be significant risk. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness, and anorexia nervosa in particular carries a significantly increased risk of premature death, with mortality rates notably higher than the general population .
Alongside this, the CPD explores the physiology of eating disorders and their impact on the brain, including considerations around obesity and ethical weight loss. You will gain clarity on when and how to work collaboratively with other professionals, and how to adapt our Initial Consultation to different client needs. Ultimately, this training equips you with the knowledge, boundaries and practical skills to support clients with poor relationships with food in a safe, ethical and effective way.
Delivered over two half days, this CPD first explores the physiology of eating disorders and the impact of dieting, building a clear understanding of underlying causes. The second session then takes a deeper dive into different presentations, safeguarding, and how to adapt your practice to safely and effectively support those experiencing eating disorders.
Course Content
Key Learning Areas Neuroscience & Physiology
- How the body regulates weight and stores fat
- Impact of undernourishment and dieting on brain and body
- Links between restriction, stress, and disordered thinking
Dieting & Risk Factors
- Dieting as a key trigger
- Effects of diet culture and body image pressures
- Role of stress, trauma, and personality traits
Understanding Eating Disorders
- Difference between disordered eating and eating disorders
- Diagnostic criteria and types (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder)
- Psychological, biological, and social contributing factors
- Insight into the mindset of someone with an eating disorder
Food, Nourishment & Recovery
- Importance of adequate nourishment
- Disruption of hunger, fullness, and pleasure cues
- Rebuilding a balanced relationship with food
Safeguarding & Scope of Practice
- Recognising signs and symptoms
- When not to work with a client
- Referral pathways and multidisciplinary support
- Ethical and professional boundaries
Adapting the SFH Model
- Modifying language and goals for safe practice
- Supporting gradual, sustainable change
- Working appropriately with young people
Working with Presentations
- Greater understanding of anorexia
- Awareness of varying presentations and risks
Applying to Practice
- Integrating knowledge into clinical work
- Supporting recovery through nourishment and awareness
- Prioritising client safety and best outcomes
Date of event: Jun 26, 2026
Duration of Event: 1 day, 09.30am – 12.30pm
Venue for event: Online
Name of trainer: Holly Stone
Tel bookings:
Email bookings:
Website: https://www.cpht.co.uk/events/41-working-with-eating-disorders/
Maximum number of participants: 15
Cost of Course: £105
Cost for NCH members: £94.50
How to claim discount: Members should email coordinator@hypnotherapists.org.uk for discount code
Additional information/requirements:
About your tutor
Holly is a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, holding the Hypnotherapy in Practice Diploma (HPD), and is a Master Practitioner in Eating Disorders, with additional qualifications in CBTi (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia). She trained with CPHT Surrey (formerly Guildford) and is now the Senior Lecturer for CPHT Hampshire, where she also provides professional supervision to other therapists.
Holly has a specialist interest in working with disordered eating and eating disorders and holds the Master Practitioner Certification in Eating Disorders and Obesity through the National Centre for Eating Disorders. Within her clinical practice, over 80% of the clients she supports present with a poor relationship with food, providing her with extensive applied experience in this area.
Her interest in this field is both professional and personal, having been shaped by her experience supporting her daughter through a diagnosis of anorexia. This led to a deepening of her clinical focus and the subsequent development of the PEACE Programme, a structured, solution-focused programme designed to support individuals — particularly in midlife — in developing a calmer, healthier and more balanced relationship with food and themselves.
Additional Information
Counts as 6 hours CPD.
This CPD is for Solution Focused Hypnotherapists, graduates of CPHT.