Defining the New Standard in Eating Disorder-Informed Coaching
Welcome to the ANAD Coaching Academy
Backed by trusted nonprofit leadership, ANAD provides a scope-clear, trauma-informed certification path for aspiring coaches, clinicians, and lived-experience peers.
50 Years of Trust: Built on decades of non-clinical community leadership and evidence-aligned standards.
360° Practice Pathway: Comprehensive training to help you build, launch, and sustain a real world coaching business or service within a practice
Ethical & Scope-Clear: Defining non-clinical boundaries to empower recovery safely and effectively.
Support Recovery Where It Matters Most—In Everyday Life
Recovery from an eating disorder does not happen only in therapy sessions. It happens in everyday moments—during meals, social situations, stressful days, and personal challenges. Recovery coaching provides practical, compassionate support to help bridge the gap between treatment and real life.
Eating disorder recovery coaches offer non-clinical guidance, encouragement, and accountability as individuals build sustainable recovery skills. Coaching focuses on helping clients translate recovery goals into daily actions while strengthening motivation, resilience, and self-confidence.
Want to learn more about eating disorder recovery coaching? Sign up for one our webinars below!
Key Details: The ANAD Coaching Academy
Transform your passion into an impactful career with the premier clinician-supported, risk-managed certification in eating disorder coaching. Designed to help you practice safely and scale successfully, we promise you will never walk alone in your coaching journey by delivering:
21-Module Comprehensive Curriculum
Master core coaching competencies through a step-by-step, evidence-aligned framework.
Multidisciplinary Faculty
Learn directly from leading clinicians, recovery experts, and industry leaders.
Rigorous Scope-of-Practice Training
Gain the confidence and ethical clarity needed to navigate complex client scenarios safely.
Turnkey Business Acceleration
Get the practical tools, templates, and marketing strategies required to launch and grow a real world coaching business or service within a practice
Resource & Worksheet Library
Gain full access to a comprehensive library of client-ready worksheets, training summaries, and practical guides designed to support your clients and streamline your practice.
Ongoing Faculty
Mentorship
Our Philosophy: Coaching with Skill, Ethics, and Compassion
Strengths-Based Recovery
With 50 years of peer support leadership, we know recovery goes far beyond symptom reduction—it is about helping individuals reclaim their strengths, values, and identity beyond the eating disorder.
Practical Skill Development
Students master practical tools and evidence-aligned approaches—including techniques informed by Motivational Interviewing, CBT strategies, DBT-informed skills, and Positive Psychology—equipping them to handle real-world recovery scenarios and launch their own coaching practices.
Ethical Practice
Recovery coaches must understand the limits of their role. The academy places strong emphasis on scope-of-practice awareness, ethical decision-making, and appropriate referral when clinical care is needed.
Respect the Complexity
Eating disorders are serious conditions that require thoughtful, responsible support. Our program teaches students to approach recovery with humility, compassion, and respect for the importance of professional treatment.
Clear Boundaries, Safe Support
A central focus of the academy is helping coaches clearly understand their role and professional boundaries. Students learn how to provide meaningful support while maintaining appropriate collaboration with licensed healthcare professionals.
Students are trained to recognize warning signs that require referral to clinical care and to support clients in maintaining appropriate medical and mental health treatment when necessary.
Who is the ANAD Coaching Academy for?
Designed for aspiring coaches, peers, and clinicians alike, the ANAD Coaching Academy is for anyone committed to supporting eating disorder recovery in an ethical, safe, and informed manner.
Aspiring Coaches
What You Gain: A step-by-step roadmap into eating disorder-informed care, foundational core competencies, and turnkey business launch templates.
Lived-Experience Peers
What You Gain: Ethical guardrails, boundary reassurance, and a safe framework to transform personal insight into a professional role.
Clinicians
What You Gain: Scope-clear, non-clinical tools to extend support between therapy sessions, and structured risk management.
Meet Our Academic Directors
The Academy curriculum is built and reviewed by clinicians who have shaped eating disorder care for decades.
Patricia Santucci, MD, FAED, FAPA
ANAD Vice President & Education Director
Patricia Santucci, MD, FAED, FAPA, is a board-certified psychiatrist, Associate Clinical Professor Emerita of Psychiatry at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and a pioneer in the field of eating disorders treatment and advocacy.
Dr. Santucci earned her Doctor of Medicine from the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, where she went on to serve as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. Throughout her clinical career in private practice, she specialized in adolescent mental health, women’s issues, and eating disorders.
A founding member of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) and a Fellow of both the AED and the American Psychiatric Association (FAPA), Dr. Santucci has dedicated over five decades to clinical instruction, public education, and policy advocacy. She has testified before the U.S. Congress to advocate for expanded access to care and improved clinical standards for eating disorders.
Having served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) since 1977, Dr. Santucci currently serves as ANAD’s Vice President and Education Director. In this role, she leads clinical education initiatives, public awareness campaigns, and training frameworks designed to equip multidisciplinary professionals with evidence-aligned recovery tools.
Maria Rago, PhD
ANAD Board President
Maria Rago, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, founder and Clinical Director of Rago & Associates, and President of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD).
Dr. Rago has provided specialized psychotherapy for over 25 years, delivering care across residential, inpatient, and outpatient settings. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of eating disorders, body image concerns, trauma, and co-occurring conditions, utilizing a relational, individualized care model. In addition to her private practice, she founded Rago & Associates, a multi-location mental health group practice in the Chicago area dedicated to evidence-based eating disorder recovery and integrative psychological care.
A recognized leader in advocacy and public education, Dr. Rago was awarded ANAD’s Vivian Meehan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 for her outstanding service to individuals and families impacted by eating disorders. She has lectured nationally and internationally on eating disorders, body image, and mental health, and is the co-author of Shut Up, Skinny Bitches (2010). Her clinical expertise has been featured in national media outlets, including the New York Times, Oprah Magazine, Prevention Magazine, Good Morning America, and Fox News.
Steven M. Prinz, MD
Medical Director & ANAD Scientific Committee
Steven M. Prinz, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, medical director, and long-standing leader in eating disorder treatment, mood disorders, and psychiatric education. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a member of the Academy for Eating Disorders, and has served in prominent leadership roles within the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), including Vice President and President of the Scientific Committee.
Dr. Prinz earned his Doctor of Medicine from the Chicago Medical School and completed his psychiatric residency at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he served as Medical Director of the Eating Disorder and Anxiety Disorder Programs at Linden Oaks Hospital for 22 years. He subsequently served as Medical Director for Eating Disorders Services at Insight Behavioral Health Centers / Eating Recovery Center and currently serves as Medical Director at Skyway Behavioral Health.
A dedicated educator and clinician, Dr. Prinz has provided clinical supervision to medical students at UIC Medical Center and Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. He is the co-author of The Anxious Brain (W. W. Norton & Co.), a clinical text on neurobiology and treatment for anxiety, and has published extensively on psychiatric comorbidities, suicide prevention, and males with eating disorders.
Webinars, Events & Blogs
Academy webinars, live events, and coaching articles will be published here. Join the interest list and we’ll email you first.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Academy is fully self-paced and spans 19 modules, so you can move as quickly or as gradually as your schedule allows. Module-by-module time estimates are included in the Program Guide.
Our tuition is structured with flexible options to make your investment manageable, including early enrollment savings, installment payment plans, and discounts for ANAD volunteers, donors, and providers. Additionally, we offer active scholarship opportunities, and every dollar of tuition directly funds ANAD’s peer support programs and helpline.
To see the complete cost breakdown, current discount rates, and detailed payment plan schedules, download our full program guide today!
The curriculum covers core coaching competencies, eating disorders-informed non-clinical practice, ethics and scope of practice, risk management and complex client scenarios, and the business side of coaching — including practical tools, templates, and marketing strategies for launching a sustainable practice.
Graduates are prepared to practice as eating disorder–informed, non-clinical coaches—offering structured, skills-based support that complements clinical treatment rather than replacing it. With a strong emphasis on clear scope-of-practice boundaries, you’ll learn exactly where coaching adds value and when to refer. Whether you want to launch a new business or add coaching to an existing practice, this program gives you the skills to succeed.
Yes. ANAD works with group practices, treatment centers, and universities on cohort training and partnership arrangements. Email academy@anad.org to start a conversation.
ANAD does not offer a practicum because our certification is strictly non‑clinical — and maintaining that boundary is part of our 50‑year legacy of safety and ethics. Instead, we provide a robust, practice‑ready training model: clinician access, case‑based learning, structured feedback, community support, and a full 360° pathway for launching a coaching practice. This approach protects students, protects clinicians, and ensures our program remains inclusive, ethical, and aligned with the gold standard of eating disorder-informed coaching.