MED-DBT Training for Clinicians
Pathway Overview
The MED-DBT Training Pathway equips clinicians with a principle-driven, trauma-responsive framework for treating individuals whose eating disorders coexist with emotion dysregulation, suicidality, self-injury, neurodiversity, or medical instability. Grounded in Multidiagnostic Eating Disorder–Dialectical Behavior Therapy, this pathway strengthens clinical conceptualization, supports effective pre-treatment and assessment, and integrates DBT strategies across the eating-disorder spectrum. Through live and on-demand learning options, participants build deeper understanding and greater confidence in providing high-fidelity, sustainable care for clients who are often underserved by standard treatment models.
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Treating Multidiagnostic Eating Disorders Using MED-DBT: 4-Day Intensive Live Training
Live Virtual Training | September 15th – 18th 2026
11:00am–5:30pm EST daily
Led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This 4-day live intensive training provides clinicians with an in-depth, practice-oriented introduction to the MED-DBT model as outlined in the MED-DBT text. Participants will learn how to assess fit, organize treatment, target effectively, manage medical risk, address ambivalence and anosognosia, and apply core DBT strategies within the unique clinical realities of eating disorder care. Emphasis is placed on fidelity to DBT principles while addressing the ethical, clinical, and systemic complexities that arise when working with high-risk eating disorder presentations.
The training blends didactic teaching with clinical examples, case discussion, and applied decision-making. Participants will leave with a clear conceptual framework, shared language, and practical guidance for implementing MED-DBT within outpatient team-based settings.
Key Learning Objectives Include:
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Understand the rationale and clinical indications for MED-DBT, and how it differs from standard DBT and first-line ED treatments
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Assess treatment fit and readiness, including candidates, contraindications, and common pitfalls
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Apply the MED-DBT target hierarchy to prioritize safety, therapy-interfering behaviors, and quality-of-life targets
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Identify and manage eating disorder–related medical risk through collaboration and consultation-to-the-client strategies
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Use commitment strategies to address ambivalence and anosognosia in treatment
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Adapt DBT strategies (skills teaching, coaching, contingency management, and behavior analysis) for eating disorder care while maintaining DBT fidelity
Click here for a detailed course outline.
Registration Pricing:
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Early Bird Price: $1,130 USD (until August 15th, 2026)
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Regular Price after August 15th: $1,230 USD
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Group Registration: Register 3 or more and receive 10% off per registrant
Continuing Education Credit:
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20 CE credit hours
MED-DBT On Demand Training Series
This comprehensive training series is organized into seven focused modules, each designed to build practical, evidence-based skills you can apply immediately in your clinical work.
Modules can be purchased individually to target specific areas of interest, bundled together for a more integrated learning experience, or accessed as a complete course for full, step-by-step training.
Whether you’re looking to deepen your knowledge in a single area or develop a cohesive framework across all modules, the series is designed to be flexible, accessible, and clinically relevant.
Assessment for Treatment: Is MED-DBT a Good Fit for Your Client?
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This hour-long workshop provides an overview of the assessment and treatment planning process for individuals with eating disorders (EDs), emphasizing the importance of comprehensive evaluation prior to initiating treatment.
Participants will learn how to assess clients to both understand the full scope of presenting concerns and determine whether Multidiagnostic Eating Disorders Dialectical Behavior Therapy (MED-DBT) or an alternative intervention is most appropriate. Given that EDs are complex psychiatric illnesses often accompanied by medical complications, co-occurring psychiatric conditions, and ambivalence toward recovery, accurate diagnosis and case conceptualization are critical.
The workshop will review strategies for identifying and diagnosing EDs in both adults and adolescents, as well as guidelines for determining the appropriate level of care (e.g., outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial hospital, residential, and inpatient). Emphasis will be placed on aligning treatment recommendations with diagnosis, clinical presentation, and available resources.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1 hour (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD
Continuing Education Credit:
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1 CE credit hour
Introduction to the Adapted Biosocial Theory: A Focus on Biology
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This module introduces the biological components of the adapted biosocial theory in MED-DBT, expanding beyond standard DBT’s focus on emotion dysregulation. Clinicians are guided through the role of genetic, metabolic, neurobiological, and sensory–interoceptive processes in the development and maintenance of eating disorders.
Participants will examine how nutritional status, starvation, and metabolic dysregulation impact brain function, emotion regulation capacity, and behavioral control. The module also explores how reward and punishment systems, habit circuitry, and interoceptive disturbances shape eating disorder behaviors across diagnoses. Emphasis is placed on reframing eating disorder behaviors as biologically reinforced adaptations rather than failures of motivation or willpower, and on integrating these processes into case conceptualization and treatment planning within MED-DBT.
Attention is also given to how neurodiversity, sensory sensitivity, and systemic invalidation influence the experience and interpretation of eating disorder symptoms across diverse populations.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1.5 hours (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$65 USD
Continuing Education Credit:
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1.5 CE credit hours
The Adapted Biosocial Theory:
A Focus on Invalidating Environments
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This module builds on the biological foundation of the adapted biosocial theory in Part I by examining the role of environmental, relational, and systemic invalidation in the development and maintenance of eating disorders.
Participants will explore how invalidation operates across multiple levels, including family systems, treatment environments, cultural messaging, and broader societal structures, and how these experiences interact with biological vulnerabilities to shape eating disorder behaviors. Emphasis is placed on how well-intentioned interventions (e.g., weight-focused care, dismissal of symptoms, misattribution to willfulness) can inadvertently reinforce shame, avoidance, and symptom persistence.
The module also addresses how systemic inequities, stigma, and cultural norms influence access to care, diagnostic accuracy, and the interpretation of eating disorder symptoms across diverse populations. Clinicians will learn to apply a phenomenological, non-pejorative stance to reframe behaviors as understandable within context, and to use this framework to reduce blame, improve alliance, and guide effective intervention within MED-DBT.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1 hour (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD
Continuing Education Credit:
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1 CE credit hour
Dialectical Philosophy in MED-DBT
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This video workshop provides an overview of the role of dialectics within Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) broadly and in MED-DBT in specific. The workshop emphasizes the foundational principle of synthesizing opposing perspectives to promote behavioral and emotional change. It reviews core dialectical strategies, including balancing acceptance and change, identifying and resolving polarities, and fostering flexible thinking in both therapists and patients.
The workshop then extends these concepts to MED-DBT , highlighting how dialectical principles are adapted to address the complex interplay between biological, psychological, and behavioral factors in eating disorders and related conditions.
Particular attention is given to integrating metabolic and nutritional rehabilitation and body image/weight concerns with standard DBT modes, illustrating how dialectics guide treatment planning, patient engagement, and the resolution of treatment-interfering behaviors in this specialized context.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1 hour (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD
Continuing Education Credit:
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1 CE credit hour
Assumptions about MED-DBT Clients
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This one-hour long workshop provides an overview of the core assumptions about clients that underpin Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in general and MED-DBT in specific.
These assumptions guide the clinical practice. Participants will review the foundational DBT assumptions (e.g., clients are doing the best they can, want to improve, and must learn new behaviors in all relevant contexts) and explore how these principles shape therapist stance, case conceptualization, and intervention strategies in MED-DBT. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the dialectical balance between acceptance and change, particularly when working with high-risk, complex, or treatment-interfering behaviors when an eating disorder is present.
The workshop will also address common challenges clinicians face in maintaining adherence to these assumptions and will offer practical strategies for applying them consistently across clinical situations to enhance engagement, validation, and treatment effectiveness.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1 hour (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD (includes access to Modules 5 & 6)
Continuing Education Credit:
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1 CE credit hour (combined total for Modules 5 & 6)
Building Your MED-DBT Team
Training led by Dr. Anita Federici and Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This module introduces clinicians to the team-based structure required for effective MED-DBT implementation in the treatment of multidiagnostic eating disorders. Unlike solo practice models, MED-DBT requires coordinated, multidisciplinary care across therapy, nutrition, medical, and psychiatric domains, with the client and therapist functioning as the central hub of treatment.
Participants will learn how to build and sustain a functional treatment team, including how to collaborate with external providers when in-house resources are limited. Emphasis is placed on navigating common challenges such as conflicting treatment philosophies, medical minimization, and system-level invalidation.
The module also introduces the MED-DBT Team Agreements, which provide a shared philosophical and behavioral framework for maintaining consistency, reducing clinician burnout, and preventing treatment drift. Clinicians will learn how to apply these agreements in real-world scenarios, including managing team polarization, supporting client advocacy, and maintaining adherence in complex systems.
Attention is given to how structural inequities, access barriers, and cultural differences influence team composition, collaboration, and the interpretation of eating disorder behaviors across diverse populations.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 1 hour (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD (includes access to Modules 5 & 6)
Continuing Education Credit Info:
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1 CE credit hour (combined total for Modules 5 & 6)
Dialectical Dilemmas in MED-DBT Treatment
Training led by Dr. Lucene Wisniewski
Course Overview:
This module introduces clinicians to dialectical dilemmas as predictable and clinically meaningful patterns that arise in the treatment of multidiagnostic eating disorders.
Participants will learn how opposing behavioral and emotional tendencies (e.g., vulnerability vs. self-invalidation, apparent competence vs. active passivity) reflect the interaction of biological vulnerability and invalidating environments. The MED-DBT model also introduces new dialectical dilemmas commonly observed in patients with multidiagnostic eating disorders.
The course emphasizes how failure to recognize these dilemmas can lead to clinician polarization, invalidation, and treatment drift, particularly when working with complex presentations involving co-occurring conditions (e.g., suicidality, trauma, neurodiversity). Participants will develop skills in applying a dialectical stance to maintain balance between acceptance and change, improve therapeutic alliance, and enhance treatment effectiveness.
Attention is given to how systemic, cultural, and identity-based invalidation shapes the presentation and interpretation of these dilemmas, ensuring clinicians apply this framework with cultural humility and responsiveness.
Course Format and Duration:
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Delivery: 100% on-demand self-paced video lecture.
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Total Duration: 30 minutes (includes video content, and readings.)
Registration Price:
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$45 USD
Continuing Education Credit:
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1 CE credit hour
Featured Book: The MED-DBT Protocol
People with eating disorders who also struggle with co-occurring high-risk or dysregulated behaviors are often not well served by standard eating disorder therapies. From pioneering treatment developers Anita Federici and Lucene Wisniewski, this book presents a groundbreaking adaptation of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for individuals with multidiagnostic eating disorder (MED) presentations.
MED-DBT is affirming, non-stigmatizing, and evidence informed. It integrates the full DBT model - including individual therapy, skills training, phone coaching, and consultation team - with strategies for treating eating behaviors, body image, interoception, and medical instability. Featuring rich case examples, the book is grounded in extensive clinical experience and state-of-the-art neurobiological research. A reproducible MED-DBT Diary Card and other useful tools can be photocopied or downloaded and printed.
