Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir is a pioneer in the field of food addiction treatment. Once an opera singer and opera teacher, Esther was battling food addiction for most of her adult life until she discovered a twelve-step program that changed her life.

Esther Helga Gudmundsdottir MSc. Director of INFACT. Once in recovery, she studied addiction treatment and was certified by the IC&RC as an Addiction Professional as well as a Clinical Supervisor. She also studied Food Addiction Treatment with Phil Werdell and Mary Foushi at ACORN Recovery Services in the USA. 2006, she opened one of the world’s first food addiction treatment programs. The MFM program in Iceland has treated over 3000 people, some of whom have tried multiple diets and even surgery in an attempt to live a healthier life. Esther’s program gives them hope and the tools to achieve long-term recovery. The treatment is modeled after ASAM approved “best practices” for Addiction Treatment.

After establishing the treatment center, Esther realized that not only the patients needed help with food addiction but also the professionals. She then founded the International School For Food Addiction Counseling And Treatment (INFACT), an international training program for any professional willing to learn about food addiction and how to help those suffering from it. The seven-month online Food Addiction Professional Certification Course is open to those accepted and provides excellent evidence-based knowledge on Food Addiction diagnosis and treatment. The list of lecturers is very impressive, from Nicole Avena to Robert Lustig (author of Metabolical) to experienced counselors in food addiction like Phil Werdell, Amanda Leith, and Marty Learner. At the end of the course, attendees receive a Food Addiction Professional Certificate from the European Certification Board.

On top of this impressive curriculum, Esther is the past Chair of the Food Addiction Institute (FAI), an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to support the healing of all food addicts, founded in 2005.

Esther’s credentials include:

• Master of Managing Health Services.
• IC&RC and European Certification Board Certified in Addiction
• Counseling, Food Addiction and Clinical Supervision, and an ACORN
• Food Addiction Professional.
• Clinical Hypnotherapist Dip.CH., CPTF, ST Cert.

Specialty:

• Treatment for Food Addiction/Codependency/ Addictions.
• Past Chair of the Food Addiction Institute;
• Founder and Director of the INFACT School (International School for Food Addiction Counseling and Treatment),
• Founder and Director of the MFM Food Addiction Treatment Center in Iceland.