Food Addiction Recovery Advocate training (formally ARC Manager Training) is very flexible and fun.

Every day, you wake up knowing you will acquire powerful skills to help otheres. No other training program can prepare you because no other eating program is based on the science of food addiction.

Or, if you have a busy schedule, skip that day.  There are no deadlines.  A priority of the program is the well-being of Trainees.  Stress is not allowed!  We make this happen by going as slowly as you like.  And we repeat information as often as needed.

You have access to twice-daily study groups at noon Eastern US and 5 Eastern US. However, you’re never required to attend at any specific time.  You avoid the stress of inconvenient requirements.

The work itself flows easily. You’re working on filling in the answers laid out on a spreadsheet. (We'll train you how to use a spreadsheet.)  You’ll receive one spreadsheet for Phase I and one for Phase II. ARC Manager Trainees really like having everything in one place.  They never have to worry about finding the materials they need.

 Assignments

The assignments are designed on research showing that people remember small stories better than anything.  You are learning how to tell stories to your ARC Members that illustrate how to easily work recovery into their lives. You’re reading from the textbook, Processed Food Addiction, or watching a video of a presentation, or listening to a recorded discussion of the cutting-edge techniques and approaches used to keep ARC Members safe and encouraged.

Here’s an example of a story:

In the 1980s, Big Tobacco bought the major processed food manufacturers.  Big Tobacco was expert in the Addiction Business Model. They applied addiction expertise to processed foods and soon millions of people were addicted, compulsively overeating, and gaining weight. This is how the obesity epidemic started.

See?  Isn’t that easy?  Couldn’t you easily tell that story?  It seems simple but this little story could begin to lift the burden of self-blame from the shoulders of an ARC Member.

Here’s another story:

Reduced calorie dieting is interpreted by the primitive survival brain as a famine. This primitive brain takes more and more control after each diet.  The primitive brain starts sending strong signals to look for food and when food is found to eat it as fast as possible before someone else gets it.  This is how binge eating develops.

With this little story, you can give an ARC Member tremendously relief from knowing the true reasons they’re bingeing.  Isn’t that cool?

We also teach kindness which is based on science.  Here’s an example.  Suppose someone has lapsed. This is what you would be trained to say:

Don’t worry.  Lapsing is normal.  We’re working hard to prevent it but this is a serious addiction and we’re around a lot of food stimulation so it can happen even if we’re being careful.  Just think of it as no more distressing than a mosquito bite.  Lapses take time to become less frequent and shorter. Give it time.

The wonderful thing about learning to talk to ARC Members with kindness and patience is that you start to talk to yourself this way too.

See? You can do this easily.  Do you already feel more powerful as a result of just these three examples?  There’s so much more to come.

The FARA training is the most expert training available but it’s also the easiest training to master.  And it’s the easiest training to apply.  And it’s the most effective because people actually grow stronger and more able to control their food based on the stories you’re sharing with them.

 Dr. Ifland has worked hard for 27 years to translate research into recovery practices that work when nothing else has been successful. As an FARA, you are better equipped to guide a food-addicted person to safety than anyone else. Really. 

This is the first training that Dr. Ifland has offered so you’re in the forefront of a movement.  This is the stuff of legends.

A Note from Dr. Ifland

You might be asking yourself whether you can do this training.  You’re wondering if you could really be successful.

I will not let you fail.  I see a desperate need for effective recovery for food-addicted people.  Millions of people suffer terribly because harmful weight-loss and eating-disorders programs don’t work. 

I am deeply dedicated to creating ARCs.  You and I will work together to make sure you have the skills you need.  If you feel like you’re falling, I will be there to catch you. You’ll find yourself controlling your food better and better every day. You’ll feel stronger every day. I’ve been waiting to work with you for 27 years.  I know how to keep my Trainees building skills happily. 

Yes, this is fun.  It’s actually easy and fun. The materials are easy to understand. I explain everything in the study groups. I give lots of examples.  I work the assignments right along with you, so you see exactly how to do them.  There’s no stressful guessing. There are no grades.  We respect you.  You’ll know when you’re ready to take on new assignments.

A note on payment

Your maximum costs are known and fixed beforehand.  If you finish the course, after 6 months you could be earning income from your ARC to offset your training fee.