Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) was recently added to the Feeding and Eating Disorders section of DSM-5 to describe children, adolescents, and adults who do not eat enough food (by variety or volume), typically because of sensory sensitivity, fear of aversive consequences (e.g., choking, vomiting), and/or apparent lack of interest in eating or food. Although there is a robust literature on pediatric feeding disorders in very young children, ARFID itself is so new that there is currently no evidence-based treatment for older children, adolescents, or adults.  Thus, our online course will fill an important gap for our colleagues who are already seeing such patients in clinical practice by providing specialized training in a new form of cognitive-behavioral therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR) that we have developed and refined at Massachusetts General Hospital for patients ages 10 through older adults. Early data from our preliminary efficacy studies indicate that, on average, patients who receive CBT-AR incorporate many novel foods into their regular diets, gain significant weight (if underweight), and significantly reduce both ARFID symptom severity and food neophobia. Our 6-week course will cover the assessment of ARFID and determining patient appropriateness of CBT-AR, as well as the implementation of all four stages of this flexible, modular treatment. Material will be drawn from our recently published books (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: Children, Adolescents, and Adults, Cambridge University Press, 2019; and The Picky Eater’s Recovery Book: Overcoming Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Cambridge University Press, 2021), cases we have seen in our clinical practice, and our ongoing research studies on the neurobiology and treatment of ARFID. 

Course materials are available beginning on July 10, 2023 and all online course work must be completed by August 28, 2023.