The Psychologist’s Role in Reducing Childhood Obesity
Friday, November 13, 2015
9:00am - 5:00pm, 7 CE credit hours
Alliant International University
1 Beach Street ~ San Francisco
In this introductory course, participants will learn effective strategies that psychologists can use to work with families and children impacted by childhood obesity. The course will explore the common medical and psychosocial challenges related to childhood obesity and strategies to engage with these issues with clients, medical providers and in communities. Since exercise and healthy nutrition have been shown to improve physical health, decrease depression, anxiety, substance abuse and increase self-confidence, concentration and positive mental health, participants will learn to integrate these aspects into their clinical work.
Specific CBT & mindfulness practices will be included to help clients with the psychological and social barriers to making family changes. Participants will also examine the developmental and motivational aspects related to childhood obesity. Specific nutritional and exercise guidelines will be provided and experiential exercises on discussing these sensitive topics in and outside of traditional therapy settings will be part of the course.
Course Goals and Objectives
Identify common medical, psychological, social & cultural problems and issues associated with childhood obesity
Describe the challenges and role of the psychologist in working with children and families struggling with obesity
Summarize the exercise and nutritional guidelines for children within our scope of practice
Practice effective strategies to help children and families improve their health
Integrate and design a plan to incorporate exercise and nutrition discussions during intake, therapy and all our clinical work, while taking into account developmental and motivational factors
Cory Nyamora, Psy.D., worked at Healthy Hearts, a pediatric Obesity program in the Cardiology Department at Children’s Hospital Oakland from January 2009-February 2014. He continues to work with children and families dealing with childhood obesity at his practice/business, where he is a Founder and Director, Endurance - A Sports & Psychology Center, Inc. in Berkeley.
