Stress and obesity are connected through multiple interacting pathways that span cognition, behavior, physiology, and biochemistry, including the eight major chemicals that drive overeating and weight gain (cortisol, dopamine, insulin, leptin, ghrelin, serotonin, GLP-1, and PYY). The maladaptive activation and prolongation of the stress response is a largely untreated root cause of obesity. Current stress reduction methods focus on lifestyle factors that are challenging to engage in with the consistency and extent necessary to significantly reduce chronic stress. Emotional brain training was developed by neurophysiologists and health psychologists and integrates neuroscience research that radically changed how scientists think about stress. This session will give those who are new to delivering obesity treatment information that supports them in understanding the psychological basis for obesity with options other than psychotherapy to address patient stress and recidivism. Those who are more advanced in their obesity treatment practice will find that this science and method provide a welcome relief to the challenges of explaining treatment failures to patients. The session offers succinct science, a practical application, and a brief video of a clinical encounter clinicians can use to implement in their practices immediately.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the role of stress in obesity treatment based on stress circuitry, brain states, and biochemistry
Discuss the challenges neuroplasticity poses in rewiring the stress response for the treatment of obesity
Describe the physiologically-based rationale for using brain-based methods to change brain states and rewire the brain for weight loss
Identify a neurobiological rationale for sustaining obesity treatment and communicating it to patients
Describe the role of elevated emotions in treating obesity and educating patients on their role in obesity treatment
