Services Provided for Mental Health Professionals

You need not be an eating disorder specialist to treat eating disordered patients, nor do you need to refer these cases out of your practice if you obtain the professional coaching and consultation you need, when you need it.  In fact, most generalist psychotherapists have already acquired the essential techniques and skills needed to successfully navigate the unique treatment challenges of this specialized treatment. The task at hand is to apply these skills at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason, through the sensitive and versatile use of self within the quality psychotherapeutic relationship. 

With clarity of intention, Abigial provides case consultation that offers skill-mastery and self-confidence in accessing and utilizing specialized diagnostic and treatment strategies for eating disordered patients and their families.

As the founder and director of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois: A Clinic without Walls, Abigail serves the professional community, mentoring eating disorder practice through providing coaching and consultation. She provides: 

• Person-to-person and telehealth coaching and case management consultation for psychotherapists, physicians, physician assistants, nutritionists, school social workers and nurse practitioners who treat eating disorders 
• On-site professional trainings for physician assistants and school personnel 
• Professional and academic case supervision for graduate students in the mental health field
• Facilitation of family-based interventions, motivating resistant patients to enter treatment

Staring in Spring of 2021

Neuroscience has shown that the fulfillment of the intention to change habitual behaviors requires changes in the body and nervous system, as well as the mind. The integration of the mind, brain, and body is prerequisite to a full and sustainable eating disorder recovery, harnessing the healing power of the nervous system, with its self-regulatory capacities.

Along with traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a group-process focus, for the past two decades Abigail’s additional skills as a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner of Somatic Education@ have expanded her interest in introducing innovative, mindfully based body-movement and breathing activities into therapy group experiences for eating disordered adults. By incorporating pleasurable, cutting-edge somatosensory experiences into the group dynamics, along with more traditional supportive psychotherapy practices, group participants report appreciable improvement in their clarity of body-perception and self-image, as well as life-expanding options for change through healthier coping strategies within all life spheres.  Most significantly, such experiences promote mind-brain-body integration, so instrumental in restoring the lost Self through a sustainable recovery. 

As the jewel in the crown of a complete and lasting eating disorder recovery, the reintegration of the core Self and the quality of the patient’s relationship with Abigail restores the eating disordered patient’s healthy relationships…. with one’s own core Self, as well as with body, food, and significant others. 

           Cost: $50 for each 90-minute session. 

           Contact Abigail at 847-432-1795

           Register here

Abigail’s Original Articles of interest to Health Professionals

What Psychotherapists Medical Doctors, Nutritionists and other Health Professionals need to Know about Treating Eating Disorders

Abigail H. Natenshon Combines the Feldenkrais Method © with Traditional Psychotherapy to Treat Eating Disorders

Clinical Applications of Neuroplastic Brain Research in Eating Disorder Treatment 

DOI: 10.11131/2016/101219 Journal of Science and Technology

Our Children, The National PTA Magazine; October 2000; Vo. 26 #2   Conquering Eating Disorders at Home and in School: Lessons that Save Lives. A feature article by Abigail Natenshon

A Professional Book Review of Doing What Works: an Integrative System for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to Recovery,  by Abigail Horvitz Natenshon

Testimonials from Psychotherapists

"I am just getting into the field of eating disorders and this book has been a perfect introduction for me. It has also gone further, going into great deal about the various treatment options that have proven effective with this population. I think this book will prevent a lot of reinventing the wheel for clinicians working with eating disorders. I would definitely recommend it."
- By H. Mihaescu, San Francisco, via Amazon.com

“Your book captures a point that seems difficult for many to grasp: eating disorders are both brain disorders and mental disorders (which includes identity and attachment).  In its focus on the unique use of the therapist’s self in the ED treatment relationship, the book describes one of the most significant aspects of attachment theory as it relates to ED recovery.”

-Larry Harris

"It made me realize how proud I am to be a therapist and how excited I am about doing this work. The writing was so personable, clear, and easy to read…it was like sitting in the same room with you and your patients, as if you were speaking to me, personally."

"This book has accomplished what the eating disorder treatment field has been needing… a workable meld of scientific research and clinical practice. In bridging this gap, it offers strategies and applications that are practicable and make sense not only to clinician son the front lines of treatment, but to their patients in recovery."

"All too many of us doing this work have been essentially on our own; we are doing what we know how to do. It is apparent that such efforts have not been sufficient. It is high time that we have access to a resource that offers clarity in describing what aspects of this treatment differ from general practice, better preparing us to manage these cases towards successful and timely outcomes."

"I loved your book, and think it would make a splendid text in the classroom at many levels.  Your command of this wide field is masterful."  C.L.

What Readers are Saying about “Doing What Works”

"All too many of us doing this work have been essentially on our own; we are doing what we know how to do. It is apparent that such efforts have not been sufficient. It is high time that we have access to a resource that offers clarity in describing what aspects of this treatment differ from general practice, better preparing us to manage these cases towards successful and timely outcomes."

"I loved your book and think it would make a splendid text in the classroom at many levels.  Your command of this wide field is masterful."  C.L.

A Comprehensive and Compassionate Guide
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As the Director of The New York Center for Eating Disorders, I have read every book on eating disorders! Doing What Works is a beautifully written. This comprehensive guide to the treatment of eating disorders is a masterful book for both experienced clinicians and those new to the field. Ms. Natenshon, a psychiatric social worker, weaves together the "neurological, physical, nutritional, behavioral, chemical, emotional, developmental, psychological, and relational issues" which richly illuminates the depth, breadth, and complexity of eating disorders. In this sophisticated exploration, Doing What Works also describes a wide range of treatment strategies including guidelines for family therapy, group therapy, child therapy, hospitalization, medication, and mind-body techniques so the therapist can formulate an individualized and integrated approach for each client. 
Ms. Natenshon encourages the therapist to actively reach out to connect with "the client's core self, which has been imprisoned by the impenetrable armor of the eating disorder." The growth-promoting safety of the therapy relationship enables the client to "reintegrate the 1000-piece puzzle of the client's holistic self that has been exiled." 
The author's enthusiasm to leave no stone unturned in helping her clients recover lends a vitality and energy to this book. In these times of managed care, where treatment results are often measured numerically for effectiveness, the human dimension of the therapy relationship can get undermined. But it is this human dimension that forms the key and most crucial intervention that Ms. Natenshon draws on to heal her clients; she is not afraid to show her affection and her authentic self to foster the growth of the client's most authentic self. 
In Doing What Works, Ms. Natenshon illuminates her commitment to teach, heal, and to inspire hope for both the client as well as clinicians eager to deepen their knowledge of the eating disorder field.” 

Amazon Customer Review

From a supervisor of social work interns and practitioners in a school setting

"I truly believe that this book should become integrated as a mandatory reading for ALL beginning therapists because in their quest to use as many theoretical models as possible from their classes in daily practice, they often forget the most important contributor to positive outcomes in therapy... The integrative use of self. I myself, am learning more and more with every page I turn, and feel inspired by having read this book." -KI

From the director of a social work clinic, Ann Arbor Michigan

From Psychotherapists

"I am just getting into the field of eating disorders and this book has been a perfect introduction for me. It has also gone further, going into great deal about the various treatment options that have proven effective with this population. I think this book will prevent a lot of reinventing the wheel for clinicians working with eating disorders. I would definitely recommend it."
- By H. Mihaescu, San Francisco, via Amazon.com

“Your book captures a point that seems difficult for many to grasp: eating disorders are both brain disorders and mental disorders (which includes identity and attachment).  In its focus on the unique use of the therapist’s self in the ED treatment relationship, the book describes one of the most significant aspects of attachment theory as it relates to ED recovery.”

-Larry Harris

"It made me realize how proud I am to be a therapist and how excited I am about doing this work. The writing was so personable, clear, and easy to read…it was like sitting in the same room with you and your patients, as if you were speaking to me, personally."

"This book has accomplished what the eating disorder treatment field has been needing… a workable meld of scientific research and clinical practice. In bridging this gap, it offers strategies and applications that are practicable and make sense not only to clinician son the front lines of treatment, but to their patients in recovery." 

From Nutritionists, Registered Dieticians

"I wanted to let you know that I have started reading Doing What Works and love it so far. It is refreshing to read your thoughts that healing occurs partially through relationship, which feels very inclusive for me as a dietitian. A psychotherapist recently accused me of working outside of my scope of practice simply by taking on patients with a mental illness, saying that nutritionists do more harm than good and have no business within eating disorder treatment. It is helpful and legitimizing to read in your book about the importance of the nutritionist's relationship with the eating disordered client, and of fully understanding the disorder and how it heals. I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying your book."

"As a nutritionist working in the field of eating disorders, I applaud this greatly needed resource. Eating disorders is a separate and challenging specialty in the field of nutrition. Often puzzling, frustrating and ultimately so very rewarding, this is a field that hasn't been thoroughly explored in such a manner...until now. 
The eating disorder nutritionist is more than an educator of scientific and nutritional facts. The emotional component of these complicated disorders requires a thorough understanding of the underlying issues as well as an ability to handle them as they impact the individual's recovery process. As a significant member of the eating disorder team, the nutritionist collaborates with other team members, facilitating the exchange of information to provide the most comprehensive standard of care. 
Treating eating disorders requires unique education, training and interpersonal skills which are often not adequately taught in college or graduate school. Therefore, the nutritionist is often left to search for manuals, methods, and mentors to hopefully fill the gaps in education. The search is over. This book has it all and more. Doing What Works is filled with critical information presented in a clear, empathetic manner while also covering all aspects of the integrative system for the treatment of eating disorders. It's a must read for any nutritionist working in the field of eating disorders because it finally is what really works. 
Highly, Highly Recommended"