Hello there! I’m Amanda Barron, a Registered Social Worker at the Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation (CPER).

I am so excited to step into this new role as Eating Disorder Team Lead. My passion for understanding and treating eating disorders was ignited when I met Dr. Federici in 2018. I had been a social worker for almost twenty years by then and I did not know anything about eating disorders! Of course, I knew people that had eating disorders, through my work and in my personal life, but I didn’t know what to do to help and I did not understand how complex these illnesses are. That day my eyes were opened to the inequities and biases within existing eating disorder systems. My eyes were opened to diet culture and weight stigma. I realized with deep shame how I myself had engaged in behaviors that perpetuated weight bias. I felt called to action. There was no way I could ignore this issue any longer.  I became committed to learning more about providing safe, weight-neutral and gender affirming care and to reducing the harms and inequities within current systems of care. 

Fast forward five years; I have learned so much, my passion for this work has grown and all the training and hard work I have put in has resulted in me now being able to use my voice and call others to join this movement and take action. The team lead role will allow me to bring the latest in eating disorder treatment and research to the clients we serve, the team and the community through engagement in training and consultation with experts in the B/I/POC, 2SLGBTQ+ and fat liberation communities.