Atypical Anorexia with Social Worker and Psychotherapist Maria Ganci

Understanding Body Matters Podcast

On this week’s episode I am pleased to be introducing our next special guest Clinical Mental Health Social Worker and Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Maria Ganci. Maria specialises in eating disorders for adolescents and is the author of various books for parents and adolescents. Maria has also developed resources for clinicians to further advance clinical skills in the treatment of adolescent eating disorders. Maria is one of the founding members of the Specialised Eating Disorders Program at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

During Maria’s time at the Royal Children’s Hospital Specialist Eating Disorder Program, she was one of the lead therapists in a Randomised Controlled Trial comparing the efficacy of two treatments for adolescent Anorexia Nervosa- Family Based Therapy and Parent Focused Therapy under the guidance of Professor Daniel LeGrange and Dr Katherine Lobe, both international experts in the field of eating disorders. Maria also held the Parent Training Portfolio and held monthly Parent Workshops where she trained and supported parents through treatment.

In 2014 Maria was accepted as a faculty member of the Training Institute for Child & Adolescent Eating Disorders, Chicago, USA and for several years provided accredited FBT supervision, training, and consultation nationally and internationally. This led Maria to the establishment of APT Therapeutic Solutions Pty Ltd a service that developed Adolescent & Parent Treatment (APT) in collaboration with Dr. Linsey Atkins and Dr. Anne Moye. The focus of APT is to ensure inclusion of the whole family treatment, and in particular the adolescent. APT emphasises the crucial need for the adolescent to be fully involved in treatment by allowing them to develop a deep sense of who they are and to utilise their personal strengths and individual traits to support recovery.

On this week’s episode Maria will be speaking about the topic of Atypical Anorexia Nervosa having worked extensively with adolescents who have experienced Atypical Anorexia as well as Anorexia Nervosa. So let’s get into it!

Podcast Summary:

1. The similarities between Atypical Anorexia Nervosa to Anorexia Nervosa

2. The long- term effects of Atypical Anorexia

3. Different body compositions and genetics

4. The challenges with the Adolescent period

5. The stigma associated with Atypical Anorexia

6. Are you an orchid or a dandelion type of person?

Links to Maria:

Website: mariaganci.com or apttherapeuticsolutions.com.

Maria Ganci’s Books:

· ‘Unpack Your Eating Disorder’

· ‘Letting Go of the ED: Embracing Me

· ‘Hold My Hand’ for parents

· ‘Survive FBT’

Links from the episode:

BodyMatters Australasia Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bodymatters.com.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠

BodyMatters Instagram: bodymattersau

Butterfly Foundation Helpline: Call their National Helpline on ⁠⁠⁠⁠1800 33 4673⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also ⁠⁠⁠⁠chat online⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠email