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For Professionals:
The Bodywise staff is available for inservices and clinical supervision for professionals, as well as community outreach and education. We offer a variety of presentations on binge eating disorder recovery, the Health at Every Size paradigm, body image, and related issues for both professional and nonprofessional audiences. Many of our groups and workshops may be held off-site and led by a member of our staff. We also offer consultations for therapists and family members on how to best approach someone about BED and getting treatment. The Bodywise Intensive is available for booking nationwide. Please feel free to contact Amy Pershing LMSW, our Director, for more information.Amy Pershing LMSW, ACSW
Founding Director, Bodywise
Pershing began her career at the Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor in 1991. She developed the Bodywise program in 1993 to serve a growing population of clients with binge eating disorder. Pershing assumed the role of Clinical Director at the Center in 1998. She and Chevese Turner, CEO and Founder, The Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), joined forces to found The Pershing Turner Center in Annapolis, MD in 2008.
Over the years, Pershing has developed a unique integrated treatment paradigm for BED, drawing from the seminal work of Charlene Tosi, her own Jungian training, and clinical experience. Recognizing core issues in recovery not addressed by many current methodologies of treatment, Pershing developed a framework called Internal Archetype Therapy (IAT). While drawing on some proven tools from current paradigms, the addition of IAT allows for more rapid recovery, deeper healing and more resiliency to relapse.
Pershing lectures extensively on the treatment of eating disorders generally, BED specifically, and her own recovery journey throughout the country, to both professional and lay communities. During almost 25 years in the field, Pershing has been featured on numerous radio and television programs on BED treatment and recovery, relapse prevention, weight stigma, and the Health at Every Size (HAES) paradigm. Pershing has served on a variety of professional boards, currently as the Vice President of BEDA and Clinical Advisor to the Eating Disorders Activist Network. Pershing also developed "Hungerwise", a 10 week program for recovery from chronic dieting and weight cycling. She provides training and supervision for clinicians treating BED and other eating and related disorders nationwide, using IAT. Pershing has served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Michigan and has written a variety of chapters and articles for both lay and professional audiences. She maintains a clinical practice at both Center locations, focusing on BED treatment using IAT.
Chevese Turner
Managing Director, Bodywise
A recognized advocate in the eating disorders field and a recovering binge eater herself, Chevese Turner joined Amy Pershing, LCSW, ACSW, in 2010 to co-found Bodywise, LLC in Annapolis, MD. Turner is pleased to be a part of this tailored program designed to meet the unique needs of those struggling with binge and compulsive eating.
Turner is also the Founder and CEO of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) and brings to Bodywise, LLC years of leadership experience in the areas of advocacy, community building, educational programming development, healthcare policy, business management, and marketing.
Turner began her career in political campaigns and non-profit organizations where she honed her professional skills and developed a passion to “work for a cause.” She is a regular speaker about her own journey with binge eating disorder and issues related to sensitivity for those with eating disorders and/or obesity. She is also very involved in the effort to educate the general public, health care practitioners, public policy makers, and obesity experts on the negative effects of weight-bias, bullying, and how we might change the current public discourse around obesity to mitigate further harm.
Turner attended Temple University in Philadelphia where she received a BA in Political Science. She is a past committeewoman to the City of Philadelphia’s 21st ward and also worked on several state congressional, mayoral, and gubernatorial campaigns in both Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Turner lives in Severna Park, MD gratefully with her loving and supportive husband and two beautiful sons.
Judith Banker, MA, LLP, FAED
Founder and Executive Director, The Center for Eating Disorders
Judith founded the Center for Eating Disorders (CED) in 1983 and has served as Executive Director since that time. With nearly 35 years of experience in the field, Judith has a background in outpatient treatment program development and implementation, professional supervision and training, individual and group psychotherapy with children, adolescents and adults with eating disorders, family treatment and education, and the development of community outreach and prevention services. Currently serving as Immediate Past President of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), Judith lectures internationally on a wide range of topics related to eating, weight, and body image treatment and prevention. Judith has also served as Chair of the AED’s Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Special Interest Group for the past decade. She has published on the psychotherapeutic treatment of eating disorders, the service users’ experience of treatments and services, and on bridging the research-practice gap in the field of eating disorders.