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Live Webinar

Beyond Picky Eating: Treatment Strategies for Expanding Dietary Variety in ARFID

Jessie Menzel, PhD
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Information

Date & Time

Description

“Just a picky eater”- or something more? Many children go through phases of selective eating, but for some, the struggle with food runs deeper, significantly impacting health, growth, and family dynamics. During this presentation, Dr. Jessie Menzel, Clinical Psychologist and SVP of Clinical Programs at Equip will help clinicians clearly distinguish between developmentally typical picky eating and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), a diagnosis that now affects an estimated 3–5% of children.

Dr. Menzel will then dive into treatment strategies tailored to patients with selective eating, exploring best practices to support dietary expansion in children and adolescents with ARFID.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Differentiate between picky eating and ARFID.

  • Identify treatment goals for ARFID patients with selective eating.

  • Describe at least two treatment strategies for expanding dietary variety.

  • Create a plan for increasing dietary variety for included case studies.

Educational Goal

This session will help clinicians distinguish between picky eating and ARFID, set appropriate treatment goals for ARFID patients with selective eating, understand strategies to expand dietary variety, and apply these approaches in clinical practice.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Dietitian
  • Nurse
  • Nutritionist
  • Physician
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Jessie Menzel, PhD
Dr. Jessie Menzel, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and a distinguished leader in eating disorder treatment and research. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Menzel specializes in developing innovative, evidence-based programs for patients of all ages. As Vice President of Clinical Programs at Equip, she oversees the creation and implementation of comprehensive, virtual care designed to transform eating disorder treatment. Dr. Menzel's career includes founding the Pediatric Eating Disorder Program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research, where she also served as an Associate Clinical Professor. Her expertise encompasses treating Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), anorexia nervosa, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using evidence-based modalities such as family-based treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and exposure and response prevention (ERP).

Financially Sponsored By

  • Equip