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Digital Seminar

Ethics of Weight Management for Mental Health Professionals

Reduce the Impact of Weight Stigma in an Era of Diet Culture & Weight Loss Medications

Speaker:
Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW
Duration:
3.5 Hours
Copyright:
May 08, 2026
Product Code:
POS150706
Media Type:
Digital Seminar - Also available: Live Webinar

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Description

  • Uncover weight-related assumptions that harm clients
  • Improve clients’ relationships with their bodies versus fighting to change their size
  • Tools for shame and stigma related to GLP 1’s

 

Clients tell you they want or need to lose weight – for their health and self-esteem and all of the related positives they believe those things convey.

But when a client comes to therapy asking for help with motivation or willpower … or with a sense that everything will be better once they drop a few pounds … or wanting your opinion about taking semaglutide because it feels like “cheating” –

How you respond depends on assumptions about weight and your own implicit attitudes about body size that may be unexamined.

Most therapists don’t realize that supporting weight loss could clash with their ethical codes.

Watch Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW, acclaimed trainer and author of Beyond a Shadow of a Diet and The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating and Body Image Workbook, for this enlightening ethics workshop that will show you the hidden dangers of diet culture, and what you can do about it in your practice. You’ll learn:

  • How to spot and unlearn weight stigma as you reduce its impact on your clients
  • Approaches to weight concerns that you can recommend within your code of ethics
  • Tools to reduce the shame and blame clients experience around diet failure
  • Autonomy and informed consent issues related to GLP-1s and other weight loss medications
  • And much more!

PURCHASE TODAY to help your clients finally stop battling their bodies.

Credit


* Credit Note - Self-Study CE Information Coming Soon

Continuing education credit information is coming soon for this non-interactive self-study package.

CE hours may be available for select professions, as listed in the target audience. Hours will be dependent on the actual recording time. Please check with your state licensing board or organization for specific requirements. 

There may be an additional fee for CE certificates. Please contact our Customer Service at 1-800-844-8260 for more details. 

**Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your professions standards.



Speaker

Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW's Profile

Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW Related seminars and products


Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW, is a therapist, nationally recognized speaker, and consultant on the topics of diet culture, binge eating, emotional eating, body image, and weight stigma. She is co-author of the Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating and Body Image Workbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet: The Comprehensive Guide to Treating Binge Eating Disorder, Emotional Eating, and Chronic Dieting (3rd edition), The Diet Survivor’s Handbook, The Making Peace with Food Card Deck, and The Body Positivity Card Deck. Judith is dedicated to helping people get off the diet/binge rollercoaster and end the preoccupation with food and weight and to creating a world that treats all bodies with respect. She offers continuing education and training for professionals, as well as customized presentations for a variety of companies and organizations. Judith has a private practice via telehealth where she meets with clients seeking to heal their relationship with food and their bodies. She is a frequent contributor to the Psychotherapy Networker and has been featured in the media including NPR, The New York Times, LA Times, and Good Housekeeping.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Matz is the director of The Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Matz receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Matz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Eating Disorder Association, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.


Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.


Questions?

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Objectives

  1. Name two assumptions about weight in the mental health field.
  2. Evaluate the psychological and behavioral impacts of weight stigma.
  3. Examine how weight management interventions may cause harm.
  4. Identify three alternative responses to potential weight-related ethical violations.

Outline

Potential Harm of Weight Management Strategies

First, Do No Harm

  • Health, self-esteem, attractiveness and other reasons clients wish to lose weight
  • Fact-checking the weight = health connection
  • How weight stigma causes harm
  • Overview of the research on diet failure
  • Physiology of weight loss
  • Impact of weight cycling and the binge-diet cycle
  • GLP 1’s for weight loss and outcomes
  • Shame and other impacts of weight loss prescriptions

Weight Stigma as an Ethical Issue

Clients Should Try to Lose Weight … Right?

  • Traditional beliefs about weight and body size
  • Origins of fat phobia
  • Impact of weight-related assumptions on assessment and treatment
  • Weight stigma and discrimination as a violation of ethical standards
  • How to identify and unlearn implicit weight stigma

Ethical Alternatives to Weight Loss Interventions in Clinical Practice

Evidence-Based Care for Weight Concerns in Treatment

  • Autonomy and informed consent
  • Weight-inclusive practice that values body size diversity
  • Clinical implementation of research on weight, health, and sustainable behaviors
  • Improve health regardless of whether weight loss occurs
  • A holistic approach to improving weight-related distress
  • Attuned and intuitive eating to improve the body relationship
  • Resources: Health at Every Size® and weight-inclusive care guidelines
  • When and how to refer to a specialist
  • Scope of practice issues
  • Limitations of the research and potential risks
  • Case examples

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Psychiatrists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

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