 | The Center for Mindful Eating |
TCME Board of Directors |
The Center for Mindful Eating is a nonprofit, nonreligious organization that is governed by a multidisciplinary Board of Directors. Its purpose is to establish and communicate the vision and mission of the Center. In May 2006, the bylaws of the Center were ratified. The Center for Mindful Eating is grateful for the time and dedication that these individuals have agreed to contribute to this project. |
Lynn Rossy, Ph.D., President
Lynn Rossy, Ph.D., is an author and health psychologist who specializes in offering mindfulness-based interventions for mindful eating and living. After spending much of her career at the University of Missouri, she became the Executive Director of Tasting Mindfulness, LLC. In 2007, she developed an empirically-validated mindful eating program called Eat for Life which helps people have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies—decreasing binge eating while increasing body image, mindfulness, and intuitive eating. She teaches her class live online over Zoom to professionals and the general public. She also travels nationally and internationally to teach mindful eating. Dr. Rossy published the concepts from her program in a book entitled, The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution: Proven Strategies to End Overeating, Satisfy Your Hunger and Savor Your Life (New Harbinger, July 2016). Her book was named one of the top ten books of 2016 by Mindful.Org. Her newest book is Savor Every Bite: Mindful Ways to Eat, Love Your Body, and Live with Joy (New Harbinger, May 2021). Dr. Rossy is also a certified Kripalu and Energy Medicine yoga (EMYoga) teacher who teaches locally in Columbia, MO, and internationally at Pura Vida Spa in Costa Rica. She completed a three-year Community Dharma Leader Training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California in January 2008 and has been a student of Buddhist meditation since 1998. She completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher training from the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society in Massachusetts in 2004. Her greatest passion is helping people find delicious ways to eat and move their bodies, while discovering greater meaning and purpose in life. She loves to play the piano, do yoga, hike in nature, eat fabulous food, and celebrate life with friends. She can be found anywhere by listening for her infectious laugh. Sign up for her monthly blog and listen to her mindfulness recordings at LynnRossy.com, be inspired by her posts on Facebook, or sign up for her daily tweets on mindful eating and living on Twitter @DrLynnRossy. You may email her at MindfulRossy@gmail.com.
Narmin Virani, RDN, LDN, Vice-President
Narmin Virani is a Registered Dietitian who has been in clinical practice since 2003. She worked for 10 years in the cardiac wellness and rehab field at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital where she learned the research and clinical applications of mindfulness meditation. This work led her to start the life-changing practice of meditating herself, and she began integrating it with nutrition counseling to promote a healthy relationship with food. After that, while working at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Bariatric Center, she continued teaching experiential mindful eating to help her patients heal the anxiety, fear, and guilt around eating that had developed from years of chronic dieting. She moved away from a weight-centric to a weight-inclusive approach after seeing clinical and scientific evidence that chronic dieting led to weight gain and eating disorders in the long term. She witnessed her patients thrive with this approach, and this motivated her to conduct a research study on Intuitive Eating that was published in Bariatric Times, before she decided to leave the bariatric field. Narmin currently works at Veritas Eating Disorders Hospital (Atlanta), and Nashville Nutrition Partners, a private nutrition counseling practice based on Health At Every Size principles. She is also collaborating with Dr Carolyn Becker of Trinity University on an ongoing research study on food insecurity and eating disorders in bariatric patients. |
Cuca Azinovic, Treasurer
Cuca Azinovic is a certified mindfulness teacher and certified co-active coach specialized in mindful eating and self-compassion, based in Madrid, Spain. She has a Masters degree in Mindfulness in Health Contexts from Complutense University in Madrid (Spain).
Certified Teacher & Mentor of the Mindful Eating - Conscious Living (ME-CL) program and in the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program at the University of San Diego, she has been implementing both programs since 2014 in Spain. She has also completed professional training in Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness (MB-EAT), Eat for Life and in Compassion-Centered Therapy for eating disorders (CFT-e) , developed by Dr. Ken Goss & Paul Gilbert at Derby University (UK).
She has been working for Nirakara Mindfulness Institute in Spain since 2016, with responsibility for the development of mindful eating, for professionals and lay people.
She joined TCME as a member in 2012, volunteering for few years to revise our programs. In 2016, she started working for TCME, providing administrative support, and in April 2018, she joined the Board to promote the Spanish-language development of TCME.
She adores her family (including two little dogs), her allotment in which she meets with nature, and the natural processes of life and her garden.
You will find more about her, her work, and her personal path on www.bienestarconsciente.es.
In her own words: “I understand scarcity as the hunger that exists in our heart, despite living in full material abundance. This existential hunger, which can be manifested as lack of love, loneliness, rejection, or isolation, often determines our way of relating to food. By connecting with the heart and bringing awareness and presence to the act of feeding ourselves, we gradually nourish our existence, connecting with the fullness and abundance that are present at all times, alleviating suffering and recovering our dignity.” |
Linn Thorstensson, Secretary
She is one of three directors for the board of Nutritional Therapists of Ireland and is excited to be part of the continuing growth of The Centre for Mindful Eating. When she is not found reading, writing or in clinic, she tries spending most of her time in nature, with her dogs, with friends and in deep conversations. You will find more about her, her work and her personal path over on www.straightforwardnutrition.com |
Linn Thorstensson, Dip NT mNTOI, is a registered Nutritional Therapist, based in Co.Cork Ireland, with a special focus on helping people heal their relationship with food and eating, through a mindful eating and self-compassionate approach. She is also a food blogger, recipe developer and photographer and a meditator. Linn holds a three year PGDip in Nutritional Therapy, certifications in mind-body medicine and Mindful Eating (MB-EAT).
Cecilia Clementi, Ph.D., Psych.D
Cecilia qualified as mindfulness teacher at The Italian Center for Mindfulness studies (CISM) and trained as a mindful eating teacher in Bruxelles (Belgium).
Cecilia has a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Bologna (Italy) where she also obtained her Clinical and Community Psychology degree and her Specialization as Health Psychologist and psychotherapy. She has also qualified in Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion focused therapy (CFT).
Her areas of expertise include eating
disorders, obesity, addiction, trauma, mood and anxiety disorders. She
lives in Italy and she works as psychotherapist and Mindfulness Teacher
both privately and at San Nicola’s Addiction Center. She also
collaborates as researcher and tutor with The Department of Psychology
of the University of Bologna, and as a trainer in Mindfulness based
protocols with CISM and other Associations.Cecilia has been practicing
Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism for 15 years. She is keen on skating and
dancing and she is also a volunteer clown therapist in the Hospitals.
To learn more about Cecilia’s work, visit www.ceciliaclementi.altervista.org |
Cecilia
Clementi, PhD, Psych.D, is a Clinical and Health Psychologist and
psychotherapist. She is also teacher in Mindfulness based protocols
(MBSR, MBCT, MBRP, MB-EAT).
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Dr. Alexis Conason
Alexis Conason, Psy.D., CEDS is a licensed psychologist and certified eating disorder specialist in private practice in New York City. Her group practice specializes in the treatment of overeating disorders, body image dissatisfaction, and sexual functioning using mindfulness-based interventions. She is the founder of The Anti-Diet Plan, an online mindfulness eating program to help people stop dieting, start eating with more attunement to their bodies, and live lives filled with joy, peace, and pleasure. She earned her doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Long Island University, C.W. Post. Following completion of her doctorate, Dr. Conason completed post-doctoral training at The Karen Horney Clinic and the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center, in affiliation with Columbia University. She also earned a certificate in Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions from the William Alanson White Institute and a certificate in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the American Institute for Psychoanalysis. Dr. Conason’s research has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals (including Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Surgery) and she has presented at numerous scientific conferences. She is a peer reviewer for numerous scientific journals, including Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and Obesity Surgery. She serves on the leadership committee of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals-NY Chapter as their Research Chair and on the board of The Center for Mindful Eating. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and writes the “Eating Mindfully” blog for their website. She has been widely featured in the popular press including Oprah Magazine, Elle, Teen Vogue, CBS News, The Washington Post, The New York Post, and many more. Dr. Conason is a fierce advocate for helping people recognize andquestion the societal norms that encourage feeling not good enough about themselves so that they can live their most fulfilling lives-- at any size! You can find Dr. Conason on the web at www.drconason.com as well as Twitter (@conasonpsyd), Facebook (Alexis Conason, PsyD), and Instagram (@theantidietplan). |
Marianela Medrano, PhD
Marianela Medrano is a Dominican writer, poet, and psychotherapist with a Ph.D. in psychology whose practice includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, and Integral Psychotherapy. Medrano has trained in Mindfulness and spirituality and trauma-specific modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and is a Mindful Eating instructor/facilitator.
She has done extensive research on the Divine Feminine in the Taino culture, has lectured in many countries, and has published her poetry widely in journals and books including Oficio de Vivir (Buho,1986), Los Alegres Ojos de la Tristeza (Buho,1987), Regando Esencias/ The Scent of Waiting (Alcance,1998), Curada de Espantos (Torremozas, 2002), Diosas de la Yuca, (Torremozas, 2011), Prietica (Alfaguara, 2013), Rooting (Owlfeather Collective, 2017), and El Libro de Revelaciones (chapbook), (2019). In addition, her poetry has been translated into Italian and French. She is a certified poetry therapist and serves as a mentor/supervisor for the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy.
Cinzia Pezzolesi, Ph.D.
Cinzia has a PhD in Human Factors in Health Care and obtained her Clinical Psychologist degree from the University of Urbino (IT) where she is originally from. She currently lives in the UK, and over the years she has developed a strong research interest around wellbeing and mindfulness in various health care settings. Her areas of expertise include eating disorders, substance of misuse, anxiety and depression. Cinzia
enjoys spending time with her family and has a strong passion for
sport. She played volleyball professionally in Italy for over 15 years
and she is now a supporter of the UK team ‘Polonia Volleyball’. To learn more about Cinzia's work, visit www.cinziapezzolesi.com |
Cinzia
Pezzolesi, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and Mindfulness Based
Cognitive Therapist. Cinzia is also a senior lecturer on mental health
and wellbeing. Cinzia qualified as mindfulness teacher at the University
of Bangor (North Wales, UK), and trained as Mindful Eating trainer in
Boston (USA).
Sharon A. Suh, Ph.D.
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Sharon A. Suh is a Level II certified Mindful Eating-Conscious Living teacher (ME-CL, UC San Diego) and a Professor of Buddhism at Seattle University. She received her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University and is author of:We’d like to express our appreciation to our former board members and others who have contributed to The Center for Mindful Eating.