In what ways do you use indirect communication to make your thoughts, needs, or feelings known? Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, and host Carter Umhau, LMHC explore the nuances of direct and indirect communication through a Radically Open DBT lens. They each reflect on how socialization has impacted their communication style, and speak from their expertises around how eating disorders themselves are a form of indirect communication. 

Links:

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Thank you to our team...

Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Behind the scenes, Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS, have been hosting workshops for young girls to start them early on learning body wisdom and developing a healthier relationship to their body image. One of Kara’s daughters--and a participant in the workshop--joins us today to share her impression on the key tenets of the workshop, ranging from identity, to genetics, to nutrition.

Links to books mentioned:

Healthy Bodies, by Kathy Kater

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Thank you to our team...

Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Filmmaker Elizabeth Ayiku joins host Carter Umhau, LMHC to talk about her upcoming feature film, Me Little Me. Elizabeth’s own struggles with an eating disorder and her difficulties pursuing recovery as a black woman in a flawed treatment world are both the inspiration for the film and at the center of this conversation. Listen in to learn about the filmmaking process and Elizabeth’s vision for expanding the face of eating disorders in Hollywood.

Key words: filmmaker, eating disorders, treatment, recovery, diverse stories

Links:

To donate and learn more about Me Little Me: https://www.melittlemefilm.com/

Me Little Me on Instagram: @melittlemefilm

More about Elizabeth Ayiku: https://www.elizabethayiku.com/

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

“Self-care” is practically a buzzword these days as more people embrace the importance of creating space for self-restoration. But what does “self-care” look like beyond bubble baths and treating yourself? Sibel Golden, PhD--psychotherapist and eating disorder specialist in private practice and Executive Director of the Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute--sits down to talk with host Carter Umhau, LMHC about building a self-care practice that reflects both your needs and your values. Sibel and Carter--both artists--reflect on the role of creativity in self-care, and Sibel presents ideas on “serious leisure.”

Links:

Sibel Golden, PhD: https://sibelgoldenphd.com/

Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute: https://seattlearttherapy.org/

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Are you good at doing absolutely nothing at all? In mainstream American culture, the values of productivity and accomplishment can be so front and center that the need for rest and play can take the backseat or—worse—be deemed useless. Opal Co-Founders Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, CD sit down with host Carter Umhau, LMHC for a roundtable conversation around the “art of non-productivity.” The concept, a key tenet of Radically Open DBT (a therapeutic modality targeted for the treatment of those with a more over-controlled temperament) emphasizes the importance of learning how to be unproductive.

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

The ever-popular Whole30 and Paleo diets are often described as a “lifestyle change” or even a “return to the basics.” Though they’re packaged differently than the diets of yore (like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or Atkins, to name a few), the restrictive mentality and the long term ineffectiveness remains the same as any other diet. In this episode, Opal Dietitian Kelly Finan, MS, RDN talks with host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explain the key principles behind Whole30 and Paleo, and debunk the myths behind their success.

Links: Summary of Whole30 and Paleo, by Kelly Finan, MS, RDN

Connect with Opal: www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

What does it look like to get un-stuck? Dr. Amy Burns, MD shares her expertise in Motivational Interviewing and explains how this person-centered approach to behavior change embraces the ambivalence so often thought to be in the way of growth. Opal Co-Founder Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS offers her own struggles with making a change in her life while Dr. Burns playfully interacts with her in an on-air example of the Motivational Interviewing technique!

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Have you considered how a deepening connection to your body’s desire for food may impact your body’s sexual appetites as well? Longtime Opal therapist Tahney Jones, LMHC, CEDS joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and host Carter Umhau, LMHC in an exploratory conversation around the intersection of recovery from disordered eating and sex. (P.S. Though this conversation could feel applicable to all, we’re aware that it centers around a cis female perspective.)

Girls and Sex book by Peggy Orenstein  

In a culture that moralizes exercise and reveres star athletes, avoiding exercise can elicit discomfort (at best) and at worst, can induce loads of personal shame. In this episode, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS (Opal’s Co-Founder and head of the Exercise + Sport Program) and host Carter Umhau, LMHC will explore why people find themselves avoiding exercise and the barriers in moving towards a relationship of trust and attunement with movement and sport. Practical tools will be offered for listeners to be encouraged if they identify as avoidant.