Hannah Trible, Co-Coordinator of the Body Positive program, represented the Women's Center last week at the 2016 National Eating Disorders Association Conference in Chicago. Our Body Positive Coordinator attends the NEDA Conference each year to improve our knowledge of the innovative programs, tools, and techniques available to promote prevention and raise awareness about eating disorders. We were excited to send Hannah to Chicago and anxious to hear about her experience at the conference. The theme for this year's conference was, "The Sky's the Limit: Advances and Insights in Eating Disorders Treatment and Prevention."

On one of her last days at the conference, Hannah told us a story of meeting Jenni Schaefer, author of bestseller, Life Without Ed among other books on recovering from eating disorders.

"The first person I met in my body project training group this morning was Jenni Schaefer. When she found out I was from the Women's Center, she said something along the lines of, "Oh, I've been there! It's so wonderful. Is Charlotte still there? And Amy? Of all the places I've visited, your program really stands out as one of the best. You're doing such good work there." What a validating thing to hear! It wasn't until she passed out her card that I realized she's written books that we use with clients - she's amazing! At the end of the day she signed a copy of her book for our library. Yay for the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women's Center!"

We look forward to hearing more stories from Hannah's time in Chicago and are eager to see how our Body Positive team can utilize everything she learned. When our staff attend conferences and learn the latest developments in their fields, the entire Women's Center benefits and grows in its ability to best meet the wide range of needs from students, faculty, staff, and the Charlottesville community.