Posts Tagged “Pennsylvania”

Tell us about yourself!

Hi! I’m Alison Paniccia! I am an outpatient therapist in our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office. I have been with The Emily Program for just over two years now, doing intakes and outpatient therapy with children, adolescents, and adults. In this role, I have specialized particularly in providing FBT/Maudsley treatment for adolescents with a variety of eating disorders as well as providing CBT-E for both adults and adolescents. I particularly enjoy working with adolescents and their families.

Describe the path that led you to The Emily Program.

The path to the Emily Program for me has been particularly diverse! With a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College, I initially worked in a laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts that specialized in compatibility testing for organ transplants. While this work was important and very meaningful, I eventually really missed having direct contact with clients.  As a lifelong musician, I was also seeking a way to combine my musical skills with caring for others. 

I completed my master’s in mental health counseling and music therapy in 2013 at Lesley University. Since then, I have worked in a variety of clinical settings, all of which have brought me greater clarity and insight into my particular skills and professional goals. The bulk of my clinical experience prior to TEP was in residential settings with adolescents and young adults with significant mental health concerns and high-risk behaviors. Over the last two years, I have enjoyed learning how to adapt all of my previous training in the treatment of eating disorders. I feel as if I have really found my niche in that!

The Emily Program is built on hope.

Hope whispers in a client’s first phone call, its hum beneath any fear or shame. It sets a client on a path of healing, a journey accompanied by others who then help hold that hope. It anchors all of us in a shared commitment to eating disorder treatment and recovery.

And hope keeps us together in uncertain, challenging times.

By Lucene Wisniewski, chief clinical officer

“How do Parents of Adolescent Patients with Anorexia Nervosa Interact with their Child at Mealtimes? A study of Parental Strategies used in the Family Meal Session of FBT.” International Journal of Eating Disorders, vol 48, issue 1, p. 72-80 White, Haycraft, Madden, Rhodes, Miskovic-Wheatley, Wallis, Kohn & Meyer (2015)

This recent study examined the types of parental mealtime strategies used during a family meal session of Family-Based Therapy (FBT). Researchers studied 21 families with children between the ages of 12 to 18 who were receiving FBT for anorexia nervosa. They also were interested in the emotional tone of the meal, as well as the parents’ ability to get their child to eat.

The Emily Program is excited to announce that our Pittsburgh location is now open and accepting new clients.

Eating disorders disrupt the lives of some 130,000 males and 296,000 females in Pennsylvania every day. The Pittsburgh office is being led by eating disorder expert Liz McCabe, who is committed to helping individuals in the area recover.