The Intersection of Eating Disorders and the Neuroplastic Brain

The human brain is not fixed—it is constantly adapting in response to experience, learning, and environment. This workshop explores how neuroplasticity plays a central role in both the development and treatment of eating disorders, offering clinicians a powerful, science-grounded lens for understanding change and recovery.

Designed for eating disorder professionals, this training begins with a clear, accessible overview of neuroplasticity and why it matters in clinical work. We will examine how repeated thoughts, behaviors, and coping strategies can become neurologically reinforced over time, and how these same mechanisms can be harnessed to support healing. Participants will explore how entrenched eating disorder patterns form in the brain, and how intentional therapeutic interventions can help rewire them.

Dr. Lacey Lemke (she/her) is a licensed clinical health psychologist with specialized expertise in the treatment of eating disorders and the practice of medical and health psychology. She completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology with a Primary Care emphasis at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Lemke went on to complete both her predoctoral clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship through Ascension Health, where she gained advanced training working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and self-injurious behaviors, as well as within pediatric subspecialty settings including endocrinology, neurology, and adolescent medicine.

Dr. Elizabeth E. Sita, MD, is a Board Certified psychiatrist specializing in the care of patients with eating disorders. She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Chicago and graduated with Highest Honors. She then earned her medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and was recognized with the Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Psychiatry. She subsequently completed residency with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, where she was elected Chief Resident and received the Resident Psychiatrist Leadership & Service Award. Upon completing her training, Dr. Sita came to Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, where she served as Assistant Medical Director of the Center for Eating Disorders and Director of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Services before transitioning to lead the new inpatient eating disorder unit as Medical Director of Eating Disorder Services at Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital – Chicago. In these roles, she has cared for a multitude of adolescents and adults struggling with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other eating disorders as well as severe, cooccurring mood, trauma, personality, and substance use disorders. Dr. Sita has been recognized throughout her training and practice for a commitment to excellence in patient care and for her ability to engage patients in their most challenging moments. Her passions include the care of treatment-resistant eating and mood disorders as well as questions of medical capacity and end-of-life decision making.

Menu: Pollo pasta, Insalata Mista con lamponi, Eggplant Parmesan

1.5 CE's are available for therapy and nutrition providers.

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