Welcome to The Eating Disorder Institute

The Eating Disorder Institute was founded in August 2007 located at Canberra Australia and its primary purpose is to help, educate and support people with eating disorders.
At the Eating Disorder Institute we focus on treatment of eating disorders with the power of neuroplasticity.

What is neuroplasticity and how can you use it to cure yourself – the answers are all here.

Who is Dr Irina Webster?
Dr Irina Webster is a medical doctor from Australia with a special interest in eating disorders. For the last 10 years Dr Webster and her team have been doing eating disorder research and investigating how neuroplasticity can influence eating disorder recovery. And the result of these studies show that re-wiring the brain (what we call neuroplasticity) is incremental in the process of recovery and even curing eating disorders.

Dr Irina Webster is the author of books and treatment programs for eating disorders. She is also a public speaker and health educator.

Here is what she says about herself:
“I first started getting interested in eating disorders, when I was a teenager.  This was because I had one. As a teenager I was a little bigger than other kids in my class and for this reason I was teased  about my curvy figure mercilessly , especially when we had PE lessons and all kids had to wear shorts and tight t-shirts. I got really concern and anxious about my body. I felt that my body is my biggest problem and I hated it. I looked in the mirror often hoping to see a slim beautiful figure but I saw a different picture.  I saw a “fat and ugly girl”. “I must look like a whale “– I often thought like this, although this was not real, it was all in my mind.

Every morning I would wake up and run my hands along my sides in the hope my “fat” may have disappeared during the night. Of course it hadn’t but the truth was I did not have any fat, I only thought I did. I remember going to the bathroom and measuring my waist, hips and legs with a measuring type and writing it all down in a special diary. I was excited when the measurements were decreasing and felt angry when they stayed the same.

I was very emotional and touchy regarding my body, my size, my diets and my diaries. I  didn’t even notice how I slipped into the diet which basically consisted of water, a few apples and a cucumber. And that was all I ate most of the time between 14-16 years of age. Despite this strict diet I still managed to be nearly the best student at school and get all high marks.

Then my period stopped for months and I was taken to the doctors.  They couldn’t find anything wrong with me except the low weight and BMI that was lower than ballet dancers have. Eating disorders were not very well diagnosed diseases in those days so the doctor just thought it was due to exam stress and told me to eat more and take some vitamins.

This went on for age’s doctors, therapy, counselling all the normal stuff that does not work, until I finally had had enough.  I was a medical student by this time and had knowledge so I went on a private research project and finally figured it all out.

This site is all about my research and what as come of it over the years and how it can help you or a loved one, as it helped me.

Since I entered practicing medicine in 1994 after finishing Russian State University my research interests have focused on the area of eating disorders. Much of my research has focused on the history of mental symptoms and comorbidity of eating disorders, including comorbidity for such problems as substance abuse and mood disorders.

I have also been very interested in medical complications of eating disorders and their medical management. But for the last few years, much of my interest has focused on the neuroscientific side of eating disorders and its treatments, including psychotherapy approaches focusing on the use of neuroplasticity techniques and patient’s re-education.

I also have been interested in studies which have examined possible additive effects of treatments, such as drug therapy and how and when drug therapy works or doesn’t work. I hope that my contribution is impacting on the people’s recovery from these serious disorders.

Location of Eating Disorder Institute: Australia, ACT, Canberra

Seminars and Book Fairs USA and the UK 2008-2009

Here are some photos from or last workshop in Florida USA: January 2008.

  

Dr Irina at the Cobham book Fair UK
Promoting her new book and ED program.

 Dr Irina at the Baxter book fair promoting her book
in the UK 2009.

Thanks to all the people who came to meet us and talk to us at the book fairs.