Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training has been developed over the past decade by Jean L. Kristeller, Ph.D., Indiana State University; C. Brendan Hallett Psy.D., Department of Psychology, Indiana State University; Ruth A. Baer, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky; Ruth Quillian-Wolever, Center for Integrative Medicine, Duke University. Integrating elements from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), cognitive behavioral therapy, and guided eating meditations, the program draws on both traditional mindfulness meditation techniques and guided meditation to address issues pertaining to weight, shape, and eating-regulated behaviors like appetite and satiety. The field of study also includes other perspectives on dysfunctional eating patterns, notably: the chronic dieting model, affect regulation models, and the escape model. For decades, nutritionists, behaviorists, and other scientists have studied this phenomenon. Our goal is to integrate all of their findings into a practical system of daily behavioral modification that anyone can practice to achieve a healthy, grounded relationship to food and eating and thus accomplish their weight loss and optimum health maintenance goals.
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Cheryl Wasserman, M.A., L.P.C., N.C.C., owns and operates Alliance Therapy Associates. Cheryl has been in private practice for over 15 years, specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. She earned Master's degrees in Counseling and Biology from Webster University and UM-St. Louis. In addition to her counseling practice, she has taught in the Psychology Dept. at St. Louis Community College at Meramec for more than 10 years. Cheryl brings her experience and expertise to supervising and teaching other counselors and dieticians, and enjoys bringing mindfulness into corporate settings to reduce stress, improve employee relationships, and increase productivity. She presents workshops across the country on various topics including stress reduction, why people turn to food when they're not really hungry, how to live life as if you mean it, how to show up for your own life, and more. She has also written a mental health column for two St. Louis newspapers.

Cheryl has practiced mindfulness meditation for over 20 years. In the past two years she has combined that personal experience with the latest scientific research on the brain which supports the use of meditation to integrate the various areas of the brain to help resolve issues such as excessive stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and compulsive overeating.