The Full of Beans Podcast

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Ella Clarke, a lived experience advocate currently working for LENs as an Expert by Experience. Ella has her own lived experience of an eating disorder and ADHD, and spent three years in hospital under a section. She now uses that experience to spread awareness and give others hope that recovery is genuinely possible. Outside of her advocacy work, Ella volunteers at Redgate Farm animal sanctuary, is proud crazy cat lady to Bella, a 14-year-old cat she adopted from Redgate last year, and this year travelled to Borneo to volunteer at a sanctuary for orangutans and sun bears.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What motivates Ella to work as an Expert by Experience in eating disorder recovery
• Ella's experience of hospital admission and treatment for an eating disorder
• Why listening to the person, not just the diagnosis, matters in eating disorder treatment
• Ella's experience of misdiagnosis and falling through the gaps between mental health services
• How Ella's ADHD diagnosis became a turning point in her eating disorder recovery
• The overlap between ADHD, anorexia and binge eating disorder
• The small, incremental steps that helped Ella rebuild her relationship with food
• Why normalising food, rather than commenting on it, supports eating disorder recovery
• Reconnecting with hobbies, identity and life beyond the eating disorder, including Ella's trip to Borneo

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, hospital admission, self-harm, and mental health diagnoses including ADHD and personality disorder. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Ella via LinkedIn

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Shannon Travers-Spencer, who has lived experience of anorexia, autism, ADHD, ARFID and chronic illness, and shares their journey online. Shannon is a passionate advocate for inclusive care for neurodivergent individuals within eating disorder services, and spoke at this year's Dump The Scales march about navigating the UK's eating disorder system, and the barriers and accommodations they faced along the way.

In This Episode:

• Shannon's experience of ARFID from childhood, and anorexia developing later as a teenager
• Untangling autism, ARFID and anorexia when they overlap so closely
• Why an autism diagnosis partway through inpatient treatment changed everything about Shannon's care
• The nuance clinicians face in adapting treatment without it being exploited by the eating disorder
• How Shannon and a dietitian mapped out "autism-safe" versus "anorexia-safe" foods to understand what was really driving their eating
• How undiagnosed autism may have contributed to the development of Shannon's eating disorder
• Practical, simple adjustments that can make a significant difference in autistic-affirming care
• Why listening to the patient, and being willing to adapt language and approach, matters more than any grand overhaul
• The importance of joined-up care between eating disorder services and mental health teams

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, ARFID, autism, suicidality, and inpatient psychiatric treatment. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Shannon via Instagram @a.froggy.life
• Watch Shannon's Dump The Scales speech here
• Check out the Peace Pathway here

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Lexie Kirwan-Jones. Lexie is a psychology student at Durham University, an eating disorder peer support worker, and someone involved in research relating to eating disorders and neurodivergence.

As Lexie shares, her university experience hasn't been a straight line, but is one that might sound similar to those who have been navigating an eating disorder at university. After taking a year out of her costume design degree due to her eating disorder, she re-evaluated her career plans and returned to university in 2024 to study psychology to pursue a career in clinical psychology.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Lexie's honest account of living with bulimia and disordered eating
• Why bulimia and binge-purge cycles can feel worse than restrictive eating disorders, despite looking "healthy" on the outside
• How weight-focused feedback in eating disorder treatment can reinforce disordered behaviours
• Understanding binge eating disorder: what a binge actually feels like, and why it isn't about willpower
• The turning point in Lexie's eating disorder recovery
• Why the right GP can make all the difference in accessing eating disorder treatment
• How university stress and perfectionism fuelled Lexie's eating disorder
• Taking a year out of university for eating disorder recovery, and the fear of judgement
• Lexie's advice for navigating university with an eating disorder

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, including restriction, binge eating and bulimia, and disordered eating behaviours. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Jessica Parker and Gemma Fieldsend, co-founders of Cog-Spark, a mental health training and consultancy organisation with more than 40 years of combined experience across mental health, psychology, education and research.

Gemma brings extensive clinical experience from senior roles within the NHS, higher education and specialist mental health services, while Jessica's background is in psychology, education and doctoral research focused on eating disorder prevention and early identification.

Together, they combine frontline and clinical experience with research to deliver evidence-based, practical training to schools, universities, workplaces and community organisations. As pupils head back to school, this episode focuses on helping educators and parents recognise and respond to eating disorders in school-aged children.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

• Why eating disorders don't have a "look," and can affect any child regardless of background, age or gender
• Early warning signs of eating disorders in school-aged children, beyond weight
• Recognising ARFID and sensory eating difficulties in schools
• How perfectionism and high achievement can mask an eating disorder in children
• How to talk to a child when concerned about an eating disorder
• Practical strategies for schools to support children with eating disorders
• How to talk to parents about a suspected eating disorder in their child
• Removing blame and shame from eating disorder conversations with families
• Why joined-up support between schools and families improves eating disorder recovery in children

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and supporting children and young people. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Ruby Phelan and Margherita Barbieri to talk about their new film, The Last Pancake. Ruby is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, activist and illustrator who wrote and directed the film, and previously worked as a director's assistant on Netflix's The Crown after her acclaimed short The Mermaid & the Artist. Margherita is a British-Italian actor and producer, best known for starring as Simone in Spellbound for ITV and Hulu, and leads as Amanda in the film. The Last Pancake is a magical-realist drama in which Amanda ventures to the titular cafe, awakens her suppressed appetite, and finds herself reunited with her nine-year-old self. The film is independently produced by Ethan McDowell of AnyOther Productions, with support from mental health organisation Voices with Impact, and also stars Lia Williams (The Capture, The Day of the Jackal) as Martha and introduces Luana Souza Rodrigues as Little Amanda.

In This Episode:

• The story behind The Last Pancake and depicting recovery's fear and bravery
• Reconnecting with your inner child in eating disorder recovery
• The neurodivergent overlap with eating disorders
• The subtle details in the film that spoke so directly to the eating disorder experience
• Why "shedding" relationships is one of recovery's hardest, least talked about parts in recovery
• The quiet power of simply being there for someone, without needing to fix anything
• Redirecting determination and drive from disordered eating into something life-affirming
• Using storytelling to open conversations that are hard to put into words

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and recovery. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with the team:
  • The Last Pancake on Instagram (@thelastpancakefilm)
  • Writer & Director - Ruby Phelan - @ruby_phelan
  • Amanda - Margherita Barbieri - @alwaysmargi
  • Producer - Ethan McDowell - @ethansmcdowell
  • Production Company - AnyOther. Productions - @anyother.productions
  • Follow Ruby and Margi's recovery community, @play.brave, on TikTok

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Sophie du Plessis, a final-year Master of Nursing student in Adult and Mental Health Nursing at King's College London and founder of ED Informed.

Sophie previously studied psychology at the University of Toronto, where she capped off a 15-year career as a national-level swimmer, co-captaining the varsity women's team to a second-place finish at Canadian Nationals.

Drawing on her background in competitive sport and her own lived experience of an eating disorder, Sophie set up ED Informed, a campaign calling on gyms and fitness spaces to become eating disorder informed.

She's currently working with Beat to develop accredited training for fitness staff to help them recognise and signpost people at risk of disordered eating and compulsive exercise, alongside piloting screening measures at the King's College London campus gym.

In This Episode:

• Sophie's journey from competitive swimming to compulsive exercise and eating disorder
• Spotting the difference between healthy training and compulsive exercise
• Why disordered exercise can sneak in quietly, unnoticed
• Discipline vs wellness culture vs compulsive exercise
• Signs gym staff can look out for in clients
• Sophie's work piloting eating disorder awareness training for gyms
• Rebuilding a healthy relationship with exercise after an eating disorder
• Sophie's vision for ED Informed and eating disorder-informed gyms

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, compulsive exercise, and body image. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Sophie and ED Informed via her website or Instagram (@edinformed)
• Health policy petition: https://www.change.org/EDInformed_HealthPolicy

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Dr Stella Kozmér, an NIHR SPCR-funded Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Exeter, a Researcher at the University of Oxford, and an incoming Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Oxford. Coming from an Eastern European background, Stella's research focuses on the identification and management of binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa in primary care settings, using mixed-methods research to inform NHS clinical guidelines, policy and practice. Her work is driven by her own lived experience, which she integrates into the core of what she does.

In This Episode:

• Stella's personal and professional journey into binge eating disorder research
• How Stella felt in recognising BED after a decade of not having a name for it
• Why Stella felt stigma and shame disclosing her mental health issues in healthcare
• Why lived experience is a strength in research, not a bias to hide
• Why primary care screening tools for binge eating disorder and bulimia fall short
• The problem with SCOFF and other outdated eating disorder screening criteria
• How weight stigma affects whether binge eating disorder gets identified at all
• Why GPs are hesitant to talk about BED without services to refer patients to
• The real-world cost of untreated binge eating disorder and its comorbidities
• How to use the diabetes care model as a blueprint without more funding
• A review of GLP-1 medications for binge eating disorder
• What the GLP-1 evidence does and doesn't tell us, and the misuse risks to consider
• Why treatment for binge eating disorder must be personalised, not one-size-fits-all

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders (including binge eating disorder and bulimia), disordered eating, weight stigma, obesity, and prescription medication. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast

• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram

• Check out our website

• Listen on YouTube

• Connect with Dr Stella Kozmér: via LinkedIn
• Read Stella's research via Research Gate

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Elle Mace, a food psychology and body image practitioner, international speaker and debut author of Food Freedom, published by Vermilion/Penguin later this year. Elle brings together years of clinical training with her own lived experience to help people find a calmer, more peaceful relationship with food.

Alongside her one-to-one and speaking work, Elle hosts the More to Life podcast. She delivers accredited training for fitness and sports professionals on body image, disordered eating and GLP-1 medications. Elle's approach is simple: food freedom is psychological, and everyone deserves the understanding and support to get there.

In this episode, we explore:

• Elle's journey to writing Food Freedom and putting her disordered eating experience into words
• Why awareness is the hardest, and most essential, first step in recovery
• How toxic wellness culture can disguise itself as something healthy
• Elle's experience of body dysmorphia and how it showed up beyond just weight and shape
• Elle's shift between different eating disorders over the years, and why none of them ever really "ended" on their own
• The rock-bottom moment that led Elle to ask for help
• What eating disorder recovery actually looked like for Elle
• Why relationships, jobs and old patterns sometimes have to shift as part of getting well
• Protecting your energy in recovery, and why that isn't the same as being selfish
• Why hearing relatable, lived experiences can land differently to clinical information

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast

• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram

• Check out our website

• Listen on YouTube

• Connect with Elle via Instagram (@iamellemace), LinkedIn or via her website www.ellemace.com

⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses eating disorders (including restriction, binge eating and bulimia), body dysmorphia, and body dissatisfaction. Please take care while listening.

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Zelah Glasson. Zelah is a trans man, content creator and fitness coach who has been openly sharing his transition journey over the past two and a half years, and has lived experience of bulimia.

Zelah recently made history as the first transgender man to appear on the ITV version of Big Brother, further amplifying his voice and visibility. He is now building an online personal training business focused on supporting and empowering others within his community.

In this episode, we explore:

• Zelah's journey to personal training for trans and queer clients
• Zelah's bulimia recovery story and NHS eating disorder treatment gaps
• The difference between "In recovery" vs "recovered"
• How shame and control are related to bulimia
• The impact of public conversations about men's eating disorders
• Zelah's experience of gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia and transitioning
• The importance of trans representation in fitness
• Using exercise as a coping mechanism and understanding the difference between exercise and compulsive exercise
• How to build sustainable fitness habits centred on enjoyment, flexibility, and body awareness

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Zelah via Instagram (@zelahglasson) and TikTok (@zelahglasson)

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders (bulimia), body dysmorphia, gender dysphoria, and the relationship between exercise and disordered eating. Please take care while listening.

This week, Han is joined by Jessica Mackney, an HCPC-registered Art Psychotherapist passionate about how art therapy can help people explore experiences that may be difficult to put into words and build meaningful therapeutic relationships, while increasing awareness of the role art therapy plays in supporting recovery in eating disorder treatment.

Working from a trauma-informed, non-judgemental approach, Jess supports people across the lifespan with eating disorders, autism, SEN, and complex trauma, across the NHS, education, and non-profit sectors, with a particular focus on young people and eating disorders.

In this episode, we explore:

• What art therapy actually is beyond common misconceptions ("just drawing or painting")

• How the relationship between therapist, client and the artwork itself carries meaning
• Why perfectionism and control (often present in eating disorders) can make engaging with art materials difficult
• How art therapy offers a route into communication when verbal expression feels inaccessible or unsafe
• The role of choice, agency and non-judgement in the therapy space
• Working with people who are non-verbal or struggling to access words for their experience
• How the connection between body, senses and materials can support reconnection for those with eating disorders
• Han's own experience of art, perfectionism, and rediscovering creativity after her eating disorder
• How art can hold and express difficult emotions — including anger and frustration — safely
• Ways people can explore the benefits of creative expression at home, distinct from clinical art therapy

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Jessica via LinkedIn.

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, disordered eating, and self-harm. Please take care while listening, and know that this podcast is always here to come back to.