CIGNA Offers Free Monthly Seminars About Eating Disorders Starting April 26

BLOOMFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starting April 26, CIGNA will offer a seven-month series of free telephone seminars to help people better understand the physical and emotional symptoms of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Each one-hour session will feature an expert guest presenter who will speak for about 40 to 45 minutes, followed by a question and answer session.

“Eating disorders can take a serious physical and emotional toll, not only on people who have a disorder, but also on their families”

Advance registration isn’t required and the series is open to the public, including people who are not enrolled in a CIGNA health plan. People can choose to listen to the entire series or any individual session that interests them. Playback of each session will be available for one year for people who are unable to listen to the live sessions.

Each program in the series will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time so that it’s convenient for people in all time zones to participate. The first three sessions are listed below. Click here for the complete schedule.

April 26, 2011: “What is an Eating Disorder?” Guest presenter: Stacie McEntyre, LCSW, CEDS, Executive Director, Carolina House Residential Eating Disorders Treatment
May 24, 2011: “Relapse Prevention in Eating Disorders.” Guest presenter: Jeannie Anderson, CADC II, NCAC I, BCRPS, ICADC, eGetgoing Online Counselor, CRC Health Group
June 28, 2011: “Co-Occurring Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse.” Guest presenter: Marty Lerner, Ph.D., Executive Director, Milestones IN Recovery, Inc.

“Eating disorders can take a serious physical and emotional toll, not only on people who have a disorder, but also on their families,” said Neal Cohen, LMHC, LPC, vice president of behavioral operations at CIGNA. “The stigma that’s often associated with eating disorders can be a barrier that discourages people from seeking information that can help them. We want to help break down those barriers and raise awareness by offering this informative series, which is a collaboration between CIGNA and the many organizations that provide treatment and support for people with eating disorders.”

To listen to any session in the series:

Dial toll-free (U.S. and Canada): 1.866.564.7440 or International toll call: 1.719.785.1762
When prompted, enter participant passcode: 9026721

Handouts, playback, additional resources:

Seminar handouts, additional information about eating disorders and access to the audio playback of each session are available by clicking here.

Last September CIGNA began a monthly autism education series for parents or caregivers interested in learning more about autism and autism spectrum disorders. That series ends May 12.

About CIGNA

CIGNA (NYSE: CI) is a global health service and financial company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation's operating subsidiaries in the United States provide an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance. CIGNA offers products and services in over 28 countries and jurisdictions and has approximately 65 million customer relationships throughout the world. All products and services are provided exclusively by such operating subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation. Such operating subsidiaries include Life Insurance Company of North America, CIGNA Life Insurance Company of New York, and Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com. To sign up for email alerts or an RSS feed of company news, log on to http://newsroom.cigna.com/rss. Also, follow us on Twitter at @cigna, visit CIGNA’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/cigna and listen to CIGNA's podcast series with healthy tips and information at http://www.cigna.com/podcasts or by searching "CIGNA" in iTunes.