Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

The Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders would like to welcome Dr. Anita Federici as the newest member of our team. 

Dr. Federici received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from York University in Toronto, Canada. She completed her Research and Clinical Fellowship in the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Clinic at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Canada).

Her main research and clinical interests focus on developing and evaluating treatments for individuals with eating disorders, particularly those with a comorbid diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), suicidal and self-injurious behaviors, and/or chronic anorexia nervosa. Specifically, her research focuses on (1) investigating the use of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for complex eating disorders, and (2) developing a greater understanding of emotion dysregulation and motivational constructs as they relate to clinical outcome and treatment efficacy in these complex conditions.

Dr. Federici has completed over four years of intensive training in DBT and has extensive clinical experience working with diverse clinical populations and multidisciplinary treatment teams. Dr.Federici provides training on DBT for health professionals and offers workshops and ongoing consultation to clinicians regarding adapting DBT for eating disorders. In addition, she has received extensive training in several additional therapeutic modalities, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Emotion-Focused Therapy. She has published a number of articles and book chapters on the treatment of anorexia nervosa and anxiety disorders, BPD, and has presented her research on the application of DBT formulti-impulsive individuals at international conferences. She is a dynamic speaker and educator and avid promoter of eating disorder and suicide awareness.