Full-Filled: Meal Support, Connection, and Grounding in a Virtual World

As a follow-up from Annyck’s introductory presentation on healing and connection in a virtual world, Annyck will dive deeper into specific topics that touch dietitians offering nutritional support virtually.

This presentation will allow participants to understand specifics about building rapport with clients virtually, including step-by-step strategies to incorporate meal support in virtual sessions, techniques to notice when clients may be dissociating or distressed, and how to bring them back to the present moment.

Learning Objectives:

As a result of this presentation, participants will:

1. Name specific strategies to build rapport with clients virtually
2. Learn step-by-step guidance on incorporating meal support in your virtual sessions
3. Understand how to determine readiness, the objective of the meal support, and what this looks like virtually
4. Know the difference between meal support and food exposure and when each is pertinent
5. Recognize what dissociation, distress, or numbing may look like in session and how to address it
6. Incorporate grounding techniques for participants who may be outside of their window of tolerance

Annyck Besso Bio:

Annyck Besso is a registered dietitian and the founder of Sööma, a private practice in Montreal Canada (sooma.ca) and the United States (soomanutrition.com). Annyck founded Sööma in 2020 with a vision to provide inclusive, collaborative, and client-centered care to individuals of all ages. Annyck manages a team of registered dietitians who collaborate with several psychology clinics in the treatment of eating disorders. Additionally, Annyck supervises dietitians throughout Canada and the United States.

Wanting to contribute to training and education on the role of the dietitian in the treatment of eating disorders, Annyck recently became a McGill Affiliate Member. She is a guest lecturer in the Clinical Nutrition 3 class at McGill University and offers internships to dietetics students through Sööma.

Annyck has received specialty training in evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Family Based Treatment (FBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), which are used heavily throughout her nutrition interventions. Annyck’s clientele consists mainly of severe and enduring anorexia cases, adolescents and their families receiving Family Based Treatment, and athletes wanting to perform in their sports but being limited due to disordered eating behaviors. Beyond any specific nutrition intervention, Annyck strongly believes in providing client-centered care, seeing past an individual’s diagnosis, and understanding their journey. In her work, she creatively adapts to circumstances and client’s experiences to offer a nutrition approach that is individualized, compassionate, and evidence-based.