Butterfly: Let's Talk

For decades, the standard response to exercise in eating disorder treatment was simple. Stop.

There were reasons for that. Exercise can be a genuine medical risk when someone's body is already compromised. It can also reinforce an eating disorder, becoming rigid, compulsive, or a way to compensate for eating. So the safest option seemed to be no movement at all.

But according to Associate Professor Bonnie Furzer, blanket bans were never evidence-based. They left people unsupported, and the behaviour often continued anyway.

In this episode, Dr Beth Shelton is joined by Bonnie Furzer, an accredited exercise physiologist and associate professor at the University of Western Australia, where she leads the Mental Health and Exercise research group. Bonnie also holds a clinical role at Fremantle Hospital Mental Health Service and is a founding director of Thriving in Motion.

Together, Beth and Bonnie unpack what unhelpful, rigid exercise can look like along with the very real benefits of joyful movement for both body and mind.

They also talk about what changes when movement is supported rather than shut down. If someone moves for social connection or to help manage their mood, removing it entirely takes away something that matters. A safer plan works with that, not against it.

Bonnie discusses the updated Safe Exercise at Every Stage (SEES) guidelines, the value of bringing exercise professionals into multidisciplinary teams, and a new position statement to be endorsed by Exercise and Sports Science Australia.

For clinicians, carers and people with lived experience, this is a warmer and more hopeful way to think about moving your body in recovery.

 

Learn more about Bonnie Furzer, AEP

Safe Exercise at Every stage (SEES) GUIDELINES

Butterfly Blog: finding joy in movement

butterfy blog: how to find a positive relationship with exercise

Butterfly blog: Find the right balance

contact the butterfly helpline

find a professional

 

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

 

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellness culture promises optimum health. New research suggests it might be hiding a bigger risk: disordered eating.

 

Beth Shelton sits down with researcher Ruby Kagan to unpack why. We're used to thinking that visuals of thin bodies online drive the risk of eating disorders. Kagan's research points to something else. The bigger problem is wellness framing itself.

 

Kagan studied "what I eat in a day" and clean eating videos on TikTok. She found that the more "healthy" and admirable a video felt, the less likely viewers were to notice it was actually about food restriction. Often, that restriction was extreme, and not healthy at all.

 

She unpacks what she calls the "aestheticisation of restriction," and how we and our loved ones can protect ourselves from an endless scroll of content that isn't what it seems. You'll hear how wellness can disguise harm, and how to engage with your feed with a more critical eye.

 

Resources

FOLLOW BUTTERFLY'S NEW CAMPAIGN REDEFINING WELLNESS

LEARN MORE ABOUT RUBY KAGAN

NEED SUPPORT? CONTACT THE BUTTERFLY HELPLINE

 

Contact our Helpline

 

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

 

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Evidence-based treatment for eating disorders rightly focuses on restoring health and changing eating disorder behaviours. But what if those behaviours are also protecting something much deeper?

What if lasting recovery starts not with asking "What's wrong with me?" but "What happened to me?"

In this episode of Let's Talk, Beth talks with clinical psychologist and schema therapy expert Dr Susan Simpson about her new book Breaking Negative Eating Patterns and Remembering Your True Self, which offers a compassionate new way of understanding eating disorders. Drawing on more than 25 years of clinical experience, Susan explains how eating disorders can develop as intelligent coping strategies that protect us from shame, loneliness, unmet emotional needs and painful life experiences.

Susan explores the core ideas behind schema therapy, including our different "parts", the role of the inner critic, and how reconnecting with our authentic self can reduce the need for eating disorder behaviours. She also walks through the four-stage recovery journey outlined in her book, shares practical exercises listeners can try, and explains how clinicians and people with lived experience can use the book alongside evidence-based treatment.

It's a hopeful conversation about understanding the story behind your struggles, reconnecting with yourself, and discovering that recovery is about far more than changing eating behaviours.

Resources

• Breaking Negative Eating Patterns and Remembering Your True Self
• Susan Simpson LinkedIn
• Book: Schema therapy for eating disorders
• Schema therapy training online

Contact our Helpline

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Therapists are often encouraged to bring empathy and authenticity into the therapy room, but what happens when that understanding comes from their own experience of an eating disorder? Should they disclose it to clients, or keep it private? And what does that decision mean for both therapist and client?

In this episode of Let's Talk, Beth talks with clinical psychologist and researcher Pheobe Ho, who draws on her own recovery, years of clinical practice and her PhD research to explore one of the most complex and under-discussed questions in eating disorder treatment: the ethical, professional and deeply personal decisions faced by clinicians who've been there themselves.

Phoebe shares what it was like to work alongside members of her own treatment team, and at a service where she was once a client. She explains why disclosure is never a simple yes-or-no decision. Together, she and Beth discuss workplace stigma, supervision, the emotional toll of concealing lived experience, and why psychologically safe workplaces matter for clinicians and clients alike.

They also explore how the eating disorder sector can better support clinicians with lived experience, why clearer guidance is urgently needed, and how new research could help shape the future of care.

It's a conversation for anyone curious about what happens when personal experience and professional expertise intersect.

Resources

Pheobe’s blog on being a clinician with lived experience in eating disorders.

Pheobe’s blog on supporting clinicians with lived experience.

Pheobe’s Linkedin.

Contact our Helpline

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

 

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Men's body image is having a moment in the cultural conversation, but beyond the clickbait, what's actually going on? Where's the line between caring about your body and falling into something that can take over your life?

In this episode, Beth sits down with two guests who've seen it firsthand. Mark Beretta OAM, sports broadcaster, Australian waterski champion, and 2019 Father of the Year, speaks from decades in elite sport and media, and as a father raising a son. Shane Jeffrey, also a father, is an accredited sports dietitian with over 25 years working with clients experiencing eating disorders.

Social media algorithms and influencers are pulling young men into exercise and nutrition behaviours that look reasonable on the surface, but are often unscientific, unregulated, and quietly damaging to both their mental and physical health. Mark and Shane unpack how that happens, why supplements are filling a gap that good nutrition should, and how healthy habits can snowball into something extreme and consuming before anyone notices.

Shane describes what he's seeing clinically in boys aged 14–18. Mark talks about watching some mates head down that road and his own personal experiences growing up in sport culture.

They also cover what families, friends, and sporting clubs can do, and why getting in early with honest conversations can make all the difference.

Whether you're concerned about yourself, a mate, or a young person in your life, this one's worth your time.

 

 

Resources

 

Learn More about Mark Beretta

Learn more about Shane Jeffrey

See our Spot Your Mate Campaign about male body image

See our resources for males and men

Contact our Helpline

 

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

 

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neurodivergence,  ADHD, autism, dyslexia, sensory processing differences, is far more common in eating disorder presentations than most people realise. When it goes unrecognised, traditional treatment often fails. Families struggle under the weight of behaviours they don't understand. And the individual at the centre suffers not just from the disorder, but from not being seen, or not responding to treatment in the ways everyone hoped.

In this episode, Beth speaks with Camilla Becket, a mum and carer, about what it took to finally understand her daughter's neurodivergence in relation to her eating disorder. Once that became clearer, everything changed. For everyone involved.

If you're a carer, you'll find your fears and frustrations reflected here, and maybe a new compassion for both your loved one and yourself. If you're experiencing an eating disorder, you may too. And if you're a healthcare professional, this one might shift how you think about diagnosis, care, and how person-centred care can successfully play out in real life.

Resources:

• Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)
• Chat online
• Butterfly's Carer Support Group:https://butterfly.org.au/get-support/support-groups-programs/support-groups/carersupportgroups/
• Butterfly's Carer Support Program:https://butterfly.org.au/get-support/support-programs/carer-program-collaborative-care-skills/
• Eating Disorders Families Australia.https://edfa.org.au/
• Learn more about Beth Shelton
• Eating at the Intersections: Understanding the Unique Experiences and Needs of Neurodivergent People
• Navigating Eating Disorder Recovery As a Neurodivergent Individual
• Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia

Production Team:

Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet our new host, Beth Shelton, a counselling psychologist with thirty years of experience working with people affected by eating disorders, including their loved ones. In addition to her own practice, Beth has shaped services, trained clinicians, and held national leadership roles across the sector. She brings professional wisdom and genuine warmth to all that she does.

In her inaugural episode, Beth is joined by Dr Natasha Hepworth, a psychologist who challenges the idea that an improved body image is simply a matter of changing our thinking.

Most of us already know we should feel better about how we look. But knowing it and living it are worlds apart.

Natasha's work starts with a different question: not what's wrong with how you see your body, but what is your body image protecting you from?

She sees negative body image not as a flaw to be fixed, but as a coping strategy, one that often has roots in real lived experience, including unprocessed trauma and shame. Her work invites us to explore what our bodies have been holding, and how we can heal in a way that genuinely lasts.

If you've ever felt like body acceptance was always just out of reach, this episode may just make the difference.

Resources:

• Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)
• Chat online
• Learn more about Beth Shelton
• Learn more about Natasha Hepworth
• Read Body Image Inside out by Deb Schachter and Whitney Otto
• Read Befriending the Body by Ann Saffi Biasetti

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Beth Shelton and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Yvie is joined by Natalie Spicer, Butterfly's Head of Clinical Services, to talk through taking the all-important first steps toward recovery from an eating disorder.

If you or a loved one are struggling with eating, exercise, or body image and don't know where to begin — this one's for you.

What we cover:

Preparing for a GP appointment and what to expect in that first meeting

Accessing Medicare-subsidised eating disorder treatment plans

Bulk-billed and low-cost care options

Alternative treatment pathways and telehealth options

How carers, loved ones and other allies can offer safe, meaningful support

When a helpline, support group or other support services can make a real difference

Where you may find more resources, including in your own state.

No matter where you're at, this episode is about giving you a plan that fits your life — practical, compassionate, and actionable. You can do it your way with some guidance and tools.

This is the final episode hosted by Yvie Jones and Butterfly will forever be grateful for the work she has done in this space. We'll be introducing our new host in April! :-)

Resources:

• Butterfly National Helpline
• Butterfly Referral Database
• Are you at risk screening tool
• Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire - EDE-Q
• Inside Out Institute for Eating Disorders
• National Eating Disorders Collaboration
• Eating Disorders Victoria
• Eating Disorders Queensland
• Eating Disorders Families Australia

Follow Yvie Jones on Instagram here

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Yvie Jones and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s episode of Let's Talk In this episode, we're talking about GLP-1 medications, the drugs originally developed for diabetes that are now used more widely for weight loss.

We've all seen how these medications have been changing bodies, but they're also raising some questions: What about medical ethics, implications of new identities, and the impacts on body image and eating disorders? Also, who's really benefitting from this medical breakthrough?

There's no question the significance of GLP-1s, both personally and culturally, is complex and nuanced. For this reason, we've invited two experts with professional insight and personal experience to share their insights. Chevese Turner is a long-time advocate for body liberation who uses a GLP-1 medication for diabetes while also navigating their recovery from an eating disorder. Kathryn MacKay is the Program Director and Senior Lecturer in Bioethics at the University of Sydney, whose work focuses on body image, health, gender, and the cultural forces that shape how we understand "wellness" and worth.

We're talking about how these drugs intersect with diet culture, capitalism, medical gatekeeping, and social belonging, and why the hype around rapid weight loss can come with some costs.

More importantly, Chevese and Kathryn, without judgement, share their views on safeguards and when honest conversations are needed, especially as these medications become more accessible and more visible in everyday life.

 

Resources:

• Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)
• Chat online
• Learn more about Chevese Turnerhere.
• Learn more about Kathryn MacKayhere.
• Search ourReferral Database for professional support.

Follow Yvie Jones on Instagram here

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Yvie Jones and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Let’s Talk we’re diving into the mind-blowing world of weight stigma with two very authentic and vocal fat activists.

You may also laugh out loud and decide you want these women as your new best friends.

Demi Lynch is a researcher and journalist from Kaleidoscope News. April Helene-Horton, aka The Bodzilla, is a body diversity advocate and well-known content creator. They’ll be sharing their no-holds-barred views on stigma and stereotyping, dating and relationships, the disconnect between health and health care, and what it really means for a person to take up space.

It may be tough to hear, but if you don’t know what it’s like to live in a larger body, this conversation will help you to get it. If you do live in a larger body, Demi and April are here to let you know you’re not alone in your experience — and with them in your corner, there are things you can do to keep going with hope.

Resources:

• Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE)
• Chat online
• The Butterfly referral database can be found
• Information on the Weight Stigma Conference can be found
• You can find Demi on Instagram here and April on Instagram

Follow Yvie Jones on Instagram here

Follow Butterfly Foundation on Instagram here

Production Team:

• Produced by Yvie Jones and Sam Blacker from The Podcast Butler
• Executive Producer: Camilla Becket
• Supported by the Waratah Education Foundation

For more information about this episode, visit www.butterfly.org.au/podcast and click through to this episode.

If you're concerned about an eating disorder for yourself or someone you care about, please reach out to the Butterfly National Helpline or chat online with one of their specialist counsellors. Recovery is possible with the right support.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.