Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM)

About this event

Dr Virginia McIntosh presents 12 hours of LIVE in-person online training in Specialist Supportive Clinical Management |

Online via Zoom (Sept 2025)

DATE: 16 and 18 September

TIME: 9:00am - 4:00pm (AEST)

TITLE: Specialist Supportive Clinical Management

TRAINING SUMMARY Specialist supportive clinical management is a psychotherapy with a growing body of evidence of its effectiveness in the treatment of anorexia nervosa. It has two distinct components: clinical management, which involves alleviation of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa, particularly focusing on weight gain via resumption of normal eating; and a supportive psychotherapeutic approach to issues, including those that may impact the eating disorder. Gini and colleagues conducted the first trial for anorexia nervosa comparing SSCM with other therapies. Since then, it has been included in other clinical trials, with results comparable to other evidence based treatments. Eating disorder specialist services in New Zealand and other countries now use SSCM as a first-line treatment for anorexia.

This workshop includes a description of the key therapeutic strategies in SSCM. Tools for delivering the therapy will be presented, using practical techniques, case material, and discussion of commonalities and distinctions between SSCM and other psychotherapy approaches for adults with anorexia nervosa. Pre-workshop readings will be provided that describe SSCM and research comparing this therapy with other therapy models. 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Understand SSCM’s key therapeutic strategies
• Be familiar with the evidence base for SSCM for anorexia nervosa
• Recognise distinctions between SSCM and other therapy models 

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Gini is a clinical psychologist who teaches in clinical psychology and postgraduate CBT programmes at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ. Gini has been an investigator and therapist on clinical trials for bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder and major depression and continues to research in these areas. She is trained in CBT, IPT, metacognitive therapy and schema therapy. Along with colleagues she adapted IPT for anorexia nervosa, schema therapy for depression and binge eating and MCT for depression and has developed novel psychotherapies including an appetite focused CBT for binge eating. Gini and colleagues developed SSCM as a control therapy in a trial of psychotherapy treatments for anorexia. SSCM was an effective treatment in the original trial, leading to others.