The Conference brings together the strongest gathering of practicing food addiction professionals in history.
G. Will Dickey, LMSW, JD
Mr. Dickey has had a legal practice in Houston, Texas since 1972. He earned his MSW in 2002. He teaches Social Work with Latino Immigrants at the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. He lobbies at the state and national level for public interest issues affecting social workers and their clients.
Joan Ifland, Ph.D. (cand.), MBA
Ms. Ifland is the founder and chair of the Refined Food Addiction (ReFA) Research Foundation (www.refinedfoodaddiction.org). She has conducted successful research into the validation of the American Psychiatric Association addiction assessment criteria for eating. She is the lead author of the first article describing food addiction in humans published by an academic journal. She is the popular author of Sugars and Flours: How They Make Us Crazy, Sick, and Fat. She has been teaching professional and lay audiences about food addiction since 1996. www.sugarsandflours.com
Rebecca Lee, Ph.D.
Dr. Rebecca Lee is a community psychologist. Her work incorporates environmental and individual determinants of physical activity, dietary habits and obesity prevention in ethnic minority and underserved populations. Her work has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Kaiser Permanente, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Heart Association, and Wal-Mart. She has received the University of Houston College of Education, Research Excellence Award twice, and is a nationally and internationally recognized scientist and scholar.
Martin Lerner, Ph.D.
Dr. Lerner is executive director of the Milestones in Recovery Eating Disorders Program, Cooper City, Fla. www.milestronesinrecovery.com Dr. Lerner is a licensed and board-certified clinical pschologist who has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders since 1980. He is the author of Constructive Living, which encourages people to live in the solution of recovery, as well as professional and popular articles.
Tennie McCarty, LCDC, ADC III, CEDC, CAS
As the Co-founder, CEO and co-owner of Shades of Hope, Tennie brings over thirty years of combined professional and personal insight to the treatment of addictive diseases. She was the first Program Director at Serenity House in Abilene, a position she held for nine years. Tennie co-founded Shades of Hope in 1987 to address multiple addictions including eating disorders, alcoholism, chemical dependency, sexual addition, self-injury and co dependency. In 2008, Tennie addressed Kentucky's American Medical Association. Her expertise manifests itself through her work in anger reduction, family sculpting and week-long intensive eating disorder workshops. With Tennie's leadership, the Center has achieved acclaim through its successes in unmasking core issues that cause addictions.
Michael Prager
Mr. Prager is an author and journalist who worked in daily journalism for almost 30 years, concluding with 14 years at the Boston Globe. He is at work on his first book, Fat Boy, Thin Man, which details his 30-year battle with, and victory over, obesity. www.michaelprager.com
Diane Rohrbach
Diane Rohrbach is the Program Director for Food Addiction Recovery Education (FARE). She began working with food addicts in 2005 and two years later helped found FARE, a food addiction support group with a focus on bio-individuality. With a special interest in the science supporting food addiction she completed a certification program on the Latest Research on Addiction and the Brain at the University of Washington in 2008 and will earn her Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Certificate in May, 2010. Her goals are to raise awareness about food addiction and how it drives the worldwide obesity epidemic.
Kay Sheppard, MA
Ms. Sheppard is the best-selling author of Food Addiction: The Body Knows and From the First Bite. A licensed mental health counselor and a certified eating disorders specialist, she conducts workshops for food addicts worldwide. Since the beginning her own recovery in 1977, Sheppard has helped thousands of people live happy and healthy lives by following her comprehensive recovery program.
Colleen Small, MA
Ms. Small is director of children's programs for the International Society of Food Addiction Professionals. She has been mentoring food addicts since 1987. From 2005 to 2008, she was president of the Eating Disorders Alumni Association of the Willoughs for Washington, DC. She has completed the three-year ACORN food-addiction-professional training. She has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University in special education, worked with 360 teachers in the Fairfax (Va.) school system in educational kinesiology, and published on differences among babies in Zero to Three.
Heidi Snyder, CHN, MS, NC
Ms. Snyder is board certified in Holistic Nutrition and is a graduate of Hawthorn University’s Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition program. At Hawthorn University, she serves as the Assistant Dean to Faculty and as an instructor in their Masters of Science, and Nutrition Consultant training programs. Heidi maintains a clinical nutrition practice in Port Townsend, WA, teaching and consulting with clients locally and across the country. She has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals and is a founding member of the Berkeley Native Nutrition Co-op. Heidi’s private practice focuses on digestive balance, food sensitivities, blood sugar levels, ADD, eating disorders and addictions.
Phil Werdell, MA
Mr. Werdell is cofounder and director of professional training at ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services. He has worked directly with over 4,000 food addicts. From 1986 to 1994, he was lead therapist and director of alumni programs for the residential food addiction program at Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital in Tampa. From 1993 to 1995, he was lead therapist at the outpatient food addiction program at Radar Washington in Seattle. He is the author of Food Addiction: Beyond Ordinary Eating Disorders, published in the Clinical Forum of the International Assocation of Eating Disorder Professionals. His forthcoming book is Bariatric Surgery and Food Addiction: Pre-operative Considerations.
H. Theresa Wright, MS, RD, CDE, LDN
Ms. Wright is a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator. In 1990, she founded Renaissance Nutrition Center of East Norriton, Pa., which provides nutrition assessment, education, skills, support, and food plans related to food addiction. www.sanefood.com. She is the author of Your Personal Food Plan Guide.