Our Top 7 Peace Meal Episodes for Providers

The Emily Program’s Peace Meal podcast is officially in its third year of production! To celebrate the milestone, we listened back to our first two years of episodes and rounded up our choice picks for healthcare providers. Tune in to this sampling to hear eating disorder experts and people in recovery provide education by way of clinical experience, research, and personal stories. You’ll learn how to better understand, identify, and address eating disorders in your everyday interactions with patients.

Episode 2: Eating Disorders 101

For a basic introduction to eating disorders, this 101 primer is the place to start. Therapist Jennifer Nelson lays out general eating disorder facts, including the primary types and diagnoses, risk factors, and warning signs.

Rejecting the myth that eating disorders are always visible, Jennifer explains that the illnesses are in fact often missed by both providers and clients themselves. Eating disorders don’t have a look, size, or shape, she says, and many symptoms are easily dismissed or hard to see. They often develop slowly and subtly over time. Emphasizing the importance of close, careful examination and early intervention, Jennifer also offers advice to providers concerned about their patients.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 8: The Neurobiology of Eating Disorders

The Emily Program’s Chief Strategy Officer (and current Peace Meal host) Dr. Jillian Lampert unpacks brain research in this episode, explaining how the field’s understanding of eating disorders has advanced with insight into the neurobiology of these illnesses.

Using the concepts of “wanting” and “liking” to describe the brain systems that drive us to seek food and allow us to feel satisfied by food, Jillian shares how the brain varies across eating disorder diagnoses. Brain-based differences in “wanting” and “liking” may lead some to experience food as less interesting and more anxiety-producing, while others may experience a higher desire to eat and lower satisfaction upon eating. This research demonstrates how eating disorders are indeed brain-based illnesses and underscores the benefits of mindfulness in preventing and treating them.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 14: Eating Disorders Aren’t Just a Thin White Woman’s Disease

This episode debunks the stubborn myth that eating disorders only affect thin, white women. Therapist Jamila Helstrom cites research to explain that these illnesses affect all races and ethnicities, acknowledging still the vast disparities in access to care and quality of care across demographic groups.

In addition to stigma and cultural norms, Jamila cites insufficient provider training as one reason why people of color often do not receive the care they need. Providers do not typically receive adequate training in eating disorders, she says, offering additional recommendations for identifying eating disorders in people of color. The episode wraps with a discussion of how to provide more inclusive and culturally competent eating disorder care.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 38: Boxing, Weight Cutting, and Eating Disorder Recovery with Mark Schindler

Providers interested in a non-stereotypical account of eating disorders will appreciate this conversation with former boxer Mark Schindler. Mark shares his experience with restricting, bingeing, and overexercise, including the tremendous impact of these disordered behaviors on his physical and mental health.

Mark describes how the weight-cutting aspect of boxing contributed to the development of his illness. His eating disorder took root soon after he decided to cut weight, he says, and quickly damaged his quality of life. Behaviors that seemed healthy were actually disordered, motivated by a fear of food and an obsession around it. Reflecting on his experience of multiple physicians mistaking eating disorder signs as ones of health and athleticism, Mark emphasizes the importance of eating disorder-informed care.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 36: Eating Disorder Recovery as a Non-Binary Person with Debbie Seacrest

In this episode, Debbie Seacrest speaks to their eating disorder and recovery experience as a non-binary person. They share how negative body image in early childhood morphed into anorexia in adolescence, and how body image relates to their gender journey and eating disorder recovery.

In addition to insight into their lived experience, particularly useful to providers are Debbie’s suggestions for making care more gender-affirming and competent. They explain how treatment centers and other providers can use more affirmative language when interacting with clients, as well as in any informational materials about services. Finally, Debbie reflects on how we might rethink body-positivity messaging within the recovery community.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 33: Midlife Eating Disorders with Heidi Dalzell

This episode addresses another population not typically associated with eating disorders, those in midlife. Licensed clinical psychologist Heidi Dalzell, who specializes in treating eating disorders and body image concerns in midlife women, reveals how the illnesses do indeed affect people across the lifespan.

Heidi outlines the cultural, biological, and life-stage factors that make women susceptible to eating disorders in middle age, as well as the shame experienced by many of these women. Stigma, competing responsibilities, and lack of access to age-appropriate treatment present additional barriers, she says. Heidi also provides advice for healthcare clinicians interested in better serving midlife women, including how to approach the topic of weight.

Listen to the episode here.

Episode 10: Binge Eating Disorder and Weight Bias

In this conversation, Dietitian Abbie Scott and Site Director Maggie Meyers explore binge eating disorder (BED), weight bias and discrimination, and the Health at Every Size movement. Maggie introduces BED as a complex condition, one that involves more than overeating and affects people of all body sizes. We cannot tell whether someone has BED by simply looking at them, she explains, just as we cannot make an accurate assessment of their overall health.

Unfortunately, many people with BED experience weight bias and discrimination. Maggie and Abbie unpack weight-related bias in healthcare settings, as well as ways providers can look beyond weight when interacting with patients. Health at Every Size, they stress, offers an approach that focuses on health behaviors like eating and movement instead of numbers like weight and BMI.

Listen to the episode here.

All Peace Meal episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts. If you enjoy our show, please rate, review, subscribe, and tell your colleagues and friends! 

To learn more about eating disorders, check out our blog and provider resources, which include infographics and other informational materials. Find details about our upcoming continuing education events, virtual presentations, and consult groups on our Events page. To refer a patient, please complete our online form or call 1-888-364-5977 today.