Advanced Eating Disorder Practice - 2 Day Workshop

When: Saturday 5th December and Sunday 6th December 2026, 9.00am - 4.30pm
Where: Network Counselling and Training, Elm Park, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7PS

In an era marked by increasing anxiety, social comparison, and identity fragmentation, eating disorders have become a significant and growing concern across the UK. Beneath the visible symptoms of restriction, control, or compulsion lie profound psychological conflicts - often rooted in early experiences, attachment patterns, and struggles around autonomy, shame, and self-worth.

For counsellors and psychotherapists, understanding these deeper dynamics is essential. Many clients who present with anxiety, depression, or relationship difficulties may also be living with disordered eating patters that function as unconscious communications of distress. Without appropriate training, these powerful underlying meanings can remain unacknowledged, leaving both client and counsellor caught in cycles of misunderstanding or therapeutic impasse.

This intensive two-day workshop is designed for qualified and trainee counsellors and psychotherapists seeking to deepen their understanding of eating disorders from a therapeutically informed perspective. Drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches - including psychodynamic, attachment theory, CBT-E, and interpersonal models - the training explores the complex interplay between body, mind and relationship in the development and maintenance of disordered eating.

Participants will examine the underlying psychological meanings of eating disorder behaviours, including issues of control, shame, identity, and autonomy. The workshop integrates theory with practical application, supporting clinicians to assess risk, work safely, and respond effectively to a range of presentations including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and other related conditions.

Through case discussion, experiential exercises, and reflective practice, participants will enhance their capacity to work with both the individual and relational dynamic present in eating disorders, including transference, countertransference, and family systems. The training emphasises developing a thoughtful, attuned therapeutic stance when working with this complex client group.

By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

• Develop a deeper understanding of eating disorders as meaningful psychological and relational phenomena, as well as symptom-based conditions.
• Identify and differentiate between key eating disorder presentations using DSM/ICD frameworks alongside clinical judgement.
• Understand the impact of starvation, trauma and neurobiological processes on cognition, emotion, and behaviour.
• Apply psychodynamic concepts to clinical work with eating disorders.
• Integrate multiple therapeutic approaches (e.g. CBT-E, attachment-based, interpersonal) into a coherent treatment framework.
• Assess risk and recognise when to refer, ensuring safe and ethical practice.
• Formulate eating disorder presentations using a biopsychosocial and relational lens.
• Work more confidently with complex presentations, including bingeing, purging, restriction and comorbid difficulties.
• Understand the role of family, carers, and wider systems in both maintaining and supporting recovery.
• Reflect on their own emotional responses and use these therapeutically within the clinical relationship.

Please note there is some reading required before the start of the workshop and participants will be emailed the material 1-2 weeks before the workshop.

About the Trainer

Angelique da Silva is a psychodynamic therapist practising from a psychoanalytic perspective, with a particular focus on how early relational experiences—beginning as early as the prenatal stage—shape emotional development. Her work centres on the unconscious mind, supporting clients to understand the origins of their relationship patterns in order to foster healthier connections and create meaningful, lasting change.

Over the past decade, Angelique has undertaken extensive professional training across a wide range of specialist areas. These include sexual abuse and domestic violence, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, infant loss, advanced rainbow baby counselling, infertility, group analysis, and ex boarder psychotherapy, alongside numerous continuing professional development (CPD) courses.

Angelique is particularly attuned to the growing prevalence and complexity of eating disorders in contemporary society. She recognises the alarming increase in cases across all age groups and believes there is a pressing need for greater awareness, earlier intervention, and more open dialogue around these often-misunderstood conditions. In her view, eating disorders are not only about food or control, but are deeply rooted in emotional pain, relational dynamics, and unconscious processes that require careful, informed therapeutic attention. As such, she advocates that practitioners today must be increasingly well-equipped—both clinically and psychologically—to work with eating disorders, integrating specialised knowledge with sensitivity and depth. Through her work, Angelique is committed to contributing to this growing need, supporting both clients and the wider therapeutic community in responding more effectively to this critical area of mental health.

Since qualifying, she has developed a successful private practice in Bristol, which now includes five consulting rooms and a team of over 35 counsellors with diverse specialisms. In addition to her private work, Angelique has contributed to the charitable sector, providing counselling support for organisations working with women affected by trauma, asylum seekers, displacement, trafficked women and self-injury.

Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
MBACP (Accredited)
Psychodynamic Therapist
Postgraduate Diploma in Eating Disorders
Diploma in Eating Disorders and Body Dysmorphia
Group Analytic Training
Advanced Rainbow Baby Counsellor
Infertility Counsellor
Ex Boarder Psychotherapy

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations made up to one calendar month prior to the workshop will receive a full refund, less an admin charge of £15. Within one calendar month of the event, the refund will only be made (less £15 admin charge) only if we are able to fill the place from the waiting list.