Visualization is a powerful tool to rewire our brain’s circuitry and create new pathways that lead to success. Visualization can change our relationship with food and help us move past conditioned food avoidance and sensitivity.

Beth Rosen shares her story of accepting that her digestive discomfort was chronic but also realizing there were many treatments she could explore to get back to a great quality of life. She shares her top tips on travelling this road with persistence and patience.

Beth Rosen, MS, RD, CDN, is a weight-inclusive Registered Dietitian specializing in GI nutrition and disordered eating. With 29 years of experience, she runs a virtual practice helping clients manage conditions like IBS, SIBO, and Celiac disease. Beth also educates health professionals through webinars and peer mentoring. Currently the chair of the Dietitians in Gluten and GI Diseases subgroup of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, she’s a co-founder of the EDGI Training Project and author of the upcoming book Gut Goals. Learn more at www.BethRosenRD.com.

Food and symptom journalling can be effective when used properly. However, it can also pull you into symptom hypervigilance and the Conditioned Food Avoidance and Sensitivity Trap (C-FAST). Join Wendy and Dr. Melissa Hunt for tips on avoiding these pitfalls. We will also discuss how the brain amplifies sensations in the body and how you can turn the volume down on this communication.

Melissa G. Hunt is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as the Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow and Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and a member of the Rome Foundation Psychogastroenterology working group.

Dr. Hunt conducts research on the best approaches for stress management, and into the causes and treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and chronic GI disorders. As a clinical scientist, her emphasis is on translating basic psychological science into treatments that are effective, acceptable, and accessible to patient populations. Her work focuses on identifying the underlying patient factors (e.g. unhelpful beliefs and maladaptive avoidance) that lead to reduced quality of life, impairment and distress, particularly factors that exacerbate chronic health problems and make them harder to cope with, and on developing and disseminating evidence based, empirically supported treatments for folks with GI disorders. In addition to her research, she maintains an active private practice in clinical psychology in which she specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatment with patients with chronic GI disorders, as well as co-morbid mood, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma disorders. She is the author of two evidence-based, empirically supported self-help books that make CBT accessible to patients with IBS and IBDs, as well as an empirically supported treatment manual on CBT for IBD patients. You can reach Dr. Hunt at mhunt@psych.upenn.edu.