Welcome to “Diets and Our Demons,” a 4-week webcast series, which will cover a variety of perspectives about helping clients maintain mental and physical health.

In this first session with Judith Matz, the director of the Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, she will present some of the research that shows that dieting is actually counterproductive. Matz will discuss why the practices of attuned eating and weight acceptance can offer a more effective substitute to conventional dieting techniques.

After each webcast session, a Comment Board will be provided so that all of you can share reflections on what you’ve learned, or any questions you may have. We believe these forums create a sense of community of learning and help inspire each other. Please take a few moments to comment on what was most interesting or relevant to you, and we encourage you to include your name and hometown with your comments.

Thank you so much for your participation, and welcome to this relevant series. If you ever have any technical questions or issues, please feel free to email support@psychotherapynetworker.org anytime.

*Make sure to check out our January/February 2011 issue, which was also called “Diets and Our Demons.” This issue reported on research and case studies related to different ways of looking at dieting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you’re interested, check out that issue here.

Welcome to the New Perspectives on Practice series, “Is Mindfulness Enough?” This series will explore the benefits and limitations of both psychotherapy and mindfulness as well as the integration of these two wisdom traditions. In the first session with leading Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, he’ll discuss the erroneous belief that prayer and meditation is all that’s needed for personal transformation, talk about how to combine meditation with our daily activities, and describe how to bring the sacred into the practice of therapy.

Throughout the series, a Comment Board after each session will be available. The Comment Boards are a way for course participants to share thoughts and reflections about what was most interesting after each session and to ask questions of the presenters and of each other. We invite and encourage you to use these Comment Boards as a forum for thought and to continue the conversation sparked by each session. After listening to this first session, please just take a few minutes to engage in the Comment Board. What was most striking about this session? What questions do you have?

Thank you so much for your participation, and welcome to this relevant series. If you ever have any technical questions or issues, please feel free to email support@psychotherapynetworker.org anytime.