For the second consecutive year, the Massachusetts Eating Disorder Association, Inc. (MEDA) will be hosting its annual Panel of Recovery at Brandeis this Thursday, further marking Brandeis' prominence among other institutions in programs contributing toward nutrition and mental health.The panel, consisting of four individuals who have recovered from eating disorders, the father of a recovered individual and a licensed clinician, will be meeting this week as the keynote event for MEDA's promotion of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (yesterday to March 2). The participants will be speaking on their personal experiences with recovery, as well as answering questions and discussing the issues surrounding the prevention, education and awareness of eating disorders.

Alumna Rachael Goren '01 is Outreach Coordinator for MEDA and has helped organize the event and will act as moderator for the panel.

"The purpose is to bring hope, information and education," Goren said.

"I think helping students seek help on campus and raising our awareness are something I would like to see more actively around. The panel does that," Brandeis Psychological Consultant Cate Dooley said.

The focus of the panel will rest on experiences with recovery for those who have struggled with eating disorders rather than the coping and the specific details of each disorder. In this way MEDA says the panel strives to articulate its emphasis on "instilling hope by demonstrating that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible."

Last year, over 200 people attended the Panel of Recovery at Brandeis, and Goren expects a larger turnout this year. The panel has been sponsored in part by Food for Thought, a Brandeis eating disorder support and prevention group and is open to the public at no cost.

According to Goren, Brandeis is an ideal site for this event not only because of her familiarity with the University, but because of the level of experience and expertise that Brandeis has in dealing with these issues.

Goren founded Food for Thought as a student at Brandeis in an effort to give students coping with eating disorders more access to support and help on campus. During her time at Brandeis, the opportunities and programs available to Brandeis students expanded. Now, Brandeis has a full-time nutritionist, Laura O'Gara, and Dooley as resources for students who need help or information.

"Six years ago, there was nothing," Goren said. "Now there is really an awesome plan."

Consequently, Goren said she saw Brandeis as a place befitting the Panel of Recovery. She said Brandeis would offer support and be fully amenable to such events on campus addressing student and community needs.

Dooley spoke of the importance of events such as the upcoming panel, in providing students with a means to confront eating disorders and seeking out help. Eating disorders, Dooley said, are brought on by entirely psychological reasons, for example, adjustment to college life, and cannot be eliminated on one's own. The signal that there could be a problem is an urge to overeat, purge, restrict or control one's eating in some way, she said.

"You've got this internal critic, judging everything you do," Dooley said.

Dooley added that fortunately, Brandeis has what can be considered a continuum of methods for approaching such problems, from Food for Thought, to intuitive eating seminars conducted on a regular basis by Psychotherapist Rivka Simmons, to the nutritionist and psychological counseling, before more serious measures require consideration. The Panel of Recovery represents one addition mark on the continuum.

In addition, Brandeis has weekly meetings of a resource team, referred to by Dooley as "a wheel," consisting of spokespersons from Student Life, medical departments, Residence Life, sports coaches and Dooley herself, among others, in order to address issues Brandeis students are confronting on a regular basis.

MEDA, the host of the event, is a nonprofit organization located in Newton with the goals of education, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders. The organization offers support groups, presentations training opportunities, educational materials, professional services, and activism, in addition to taking on projects like the panel.

The Panel of Recovery will take place in the Sachar Auditorium Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.