The Innovative Therapist

Episode 96. More and more people and clinicians are talking about trauma. In this conversation with Dr. Greer Raggio, we cover what trauma is and how our understanding of it has changed. We talk about how crucial it is to understand, especially in eating disorders as 90% or so of people with binge eating disorder have a history of trauma.

We talk about why the relationship between trauma and eating and weight develops and what you can do about it.

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in this Interview

In this interview, we cover:

What are the different definitions of trauma? How has the ways we think about trauma changed over time?

What do people mean when they say big T trauma and little T trauma?

Does my experience with the medical system and doctors count as trauma?

How can you know if you have unresolved trauma? What are some signs?

How does trauma relate to weight and eating disorders?

What are some signs you may not be seeing the right therapist?

And much more!

Are you a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients?

We are planning some super cool workshops and opportunities to learn and grow in community just for you!

Sign up today to be notified about these inspired offerings!

Who is Dr. Greer Raggio, PhD?

Dr. Greer Raggio is a licensed clinical health psychologist specializing in the treatment of binge and emotional eating, obesity, and the intersection of trauma and health. She also has expertise supporting patients with serious, chronic medical issues (e.g., cancer, diabetes, insomnia, etc.) and those seeking or recovering from bariatric surgery. Dr. Raggio earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, and completed postdoctoral training at the VA hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. She spent nearly five years as a clinician at the National Center for Weight and Wellness supporting people with the mental health aspects of weight management and eating related concerns. Dr. Raggio currently sees patients under the umbrella of DC Health Psychology, a private health psychology practice in Washington, DC.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Episode 95. Do you feel stuck with your clients who have disordered eating or eating disorders? Do you have a hard time helping them navigate things like a desire for weight loss, or rigidity and fears around food? Do you want to help them unlock the next level of healing for them, and perhaps even for yourself?

If so, this episode is for you. As a psychologist training in the eating disorder and weight management field for years, I'm quite frustrated that I was never exposed to Internal Family Systems as an approach.

I discovered it and over the past year or so have been using it with my clients and myself with great results.

Ready to get unstuck and deepen your level of self-compassion and your ability to live authentically? Great. This episode is for you.

I brought on Marcella Cox, LMFT, CEDS who is a true expert in using IFS to treat eating disorders. I can't wait for you to learn from her with me.

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in this Interview

In this interview, we cover:

What is the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model and how can it help people improve their relationship to food and/or heal from binge eating?

The polarization in the health space. Are we getting more entrenched in our views or are the eating disorder or weight management fields making progress?

How can IFS help us understand polarizations that occur within professionals?

How can IFS help us understand polarizations that occur within clients (they love Intuitive Eating but they also have a part of them that really wants to lose weight)?

What IFS can offer to you if you have felt hopeless about being able to heal your trauma or your eating disorder

How you can move from thinking to truly feeling compassion and restoring embodiment

Are you a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients?

We are planning some super cool workshops and opportunities to learn and grow in community just for you!

Sign up today to be notified about these inspired offerings!

Who is Marcella Cox, LMFT?

Marcella Cox (she/her), LMFT is a Certified IFS Therapist and Approved Clinical Consultant, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist – Supervisor, Certified Body Trust Provider, Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher & Certified Daring Way Facilitator. She specializes in treating disordered eating, body shame and trauma. Marcella is the Founder of Kindful Body, a collaboration of experienced disordered eating professionals who provide online therapy and nutrition counseling throughout California. She also co-founded the IFS Telehealth Collective, a multi-state mental health group practice dedicated to providing high-quality Internal Family Systems Therapy online with lead IFS trainers, Mariel Pastor, LMFT and Paul Ginter, Ed.D. Marcella provides individual and group supervision, clinical consultation, presentations, and professional workshops. She will soon be launching her online course and offering in-person retreats to help others heal from disordered eating and body shame using IFS and Somatic IFS.

You can find Marcella Cox by going to her website

Kindful Body - www.kindfulbody.com

IFS Telehealth Collective - www.ifstherapyonline.com

Upcoming Courses & Retreats - www.marcellacox.com

"Trauma blocks us access to our self-energy and it's actually that loving presence that heals the trauma."- Marcella, Cox, LMFT, CEDS-S

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 94. Last episode I talked all about how Internal Family Systems (IFS) has changed my 1 on 1 practice. Check that episode out first if you haven't already because I give a general overview of IFS.

This episode is all about some of the many ways IFS has impacted me personally, and some of the ways it's impacted me professionally and helped me think about our field in a more useful way.

So excited to have you here!

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in This Episode

In this episode I will answer:

How IFS has influenced me personally

How it has changed how I think about the fields of weight management and eating disorders

What I wish more professionals knew about healing people from disordered eating and weight-related concerns

My top recommendations for people looking to learn more about IFS and how it relates to eating and weight concerns

Are a therapist, dietitian or helping professional who works individuals struggling with disordered eating?

Are you unsure of the best ways to help clients who say "I really like intuitive eating and what we are doing, but ultimately I really want to lose weight."

You empathize. You tell them the science about dieting. But ultimately, that desire for weight loss keeps coming up and often interfering with their focus in treatment. How can you help them explore what is right for them without imposing you own agenda?

I created this free step-by-step guide to walk you thought my #1 favorite exercise (based on Internal Family Systems theory) to help clients navigate this nuanced dynamic with parts of them that still want to lose weight. As a professional, it's my favorite way to help clients build self-trust, while also taking some of the pressure off of you to know the exact right advice to say or give. Total win-win.

Grab it for free today!

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 93. For this episode I recruited the wonderful Dr. Sapna Doshi back to interview me about my experiences in the past several months of immersing myself in the world of Internal Family Systems Theory.

I've been learning IFS and beginning to apply it with several of my clients and have been seeing great results.

It's also something I've been applying and to myself. Working with my parts (as IFS calls them) has been incredibly transformative for me. So in this two-part series, I will first share how Internal Family Systems has changed my 1 on 1 clinical practice, and in part 2 I will share how it has changed things for me personally and in my professional practice.

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in This Episode

In this episode I will answer:

What is Internal Family Systems (IFS) and why should you care about it?

How did I learn about it?

How has it influenced my 1 on 1 practice?

What are some of the biggest shifts I've seen?

How can IFS merge (or not) with other forms of psychotherapy?

Are a therapist, dietitian or helping professional who works individuals struggling with disordered eating?

Are you unsure of the best ways to help clients who say "I really like intuitive eating and what we are doing, but ultimately I really want to lose weight."

You empathize. You tell them the science about dieting. But ultimately, that desire for weight loss keeps coming up and often interfering with their focus in treatment. How can you help them explore what is right for them without imposing you own agenda?

I created this free step-by-step guide to walk you thought my #1 favorite exercise (based on Internal Family Systems theory) to help clients navigate this nuanced dynamic with parts of them that still want to lose weight. As a professional, it's my favorite way to help clients build self-trust, while also taking some of the pressure off of you to know the exact right advice to say or give. Total win-win.

Grab it for free today!

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 92. In this episode I share more about my journey, where I'm at now, and what I've learned so far. We had our second kiddo in January 2020. Covid shutdown happened March 2020. I put notice in at work June 2020 and left December 2020. I started this podcast February 1st, 2021. Prior to that I started this blog in September 2019.

They say owning a business, having kids are the ultimate self-growth journeys. If we add being a good therapist, and living through a global pandemic, this has been a heck of a growth period for yours truly! Today I'll share some of that journey and my lessons so far...

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in This Episode

In this episode I will answer:

Why did you start this business?

What are some of the mistakes you've made along the way?

What have you learned about growth mindset from entrepreneurship? What about from parenting? What about from client work?

How does growth mindset apply to eating and weight journeys?

How does this tie to unconditional self-worth?

What do you wish more people knew about this topic?

Are you a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients?

We are planning some super cool workshops and opportunities to learn and grow in the community just for you!

Sign up today to be notified about these inspired offerings!

Why was this workshop created and why should you join?I'm SO excited to announce that I've teamed up with my longtime friend and colleague Sapna Doshi, Ph.D. to create a workshop just for professionals who want to come together, learn from one another, and help learn the most effective tools to empower our clients to navigate the nuance that is eating and weight struggles and build their self-trust.

Sapna and I will share personal experiences, the models we have found most useful, and create a space of connection and shame-free space where you can ask all the questions without fear of judgment. Imagine us all hanging out at a bookstore coffee shop just sitting on comfy couches and learning together - you won't want to miss it!

What is this workshop about?Title: Balancing the desire for weight loss with a peaceful relationship with food: Helping our clients navigate the nuance while building self-trust

Clients often present with eating disorders, disordered eating, and/or a desire for weight loss. Many professionals are trained to work with a population focused on either eating disorder treatment or weight management. This workshop provides an overview of the various ways we can help our clients, the pitfalls of aligning with only one approach, and how to pull from multiple theoretical orientations to support client autonomy and self-trust.

When is it?Friday 4/21/2023 12:00pm to 1:00pm EDT

Who is leading it?Yours truly (Dr. Shawn Hondorp) and my longtime friend and colleague Dr. Sapna Doshi. We have 22 years of collective post-graduate experience in the field of weight management and eating disorders.

Who is it for?Professionals (therapists, dietitians, other helping professionals like physicians, PAs, NPs, coaches) who work with people helping them develop healthier habits, improving their relationship to food and their bodies, and/or other health-related changes (e.g., managing chronic health conditions).

Location:Zoom

Cost:$45

Next workshop is on Friday April 21st from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Sign up today using this link!

If that date has passed, then sign up here to be notified about future offerings!

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 91. Part 2 of my coffee chat with Dr. Sapna Doshi is here! So grab your favorite beverage of choice and join us for an honest conversation about the fields of weight management, eating disorders, and health.

Our goal in this 2-part series is to have these episodes be relevant for:

People (whether you are an individual looking for an empowering healthcare team) who want to be inspired and motivated to create optimal health and thrive

Clinicians who work with people on their health, eating, and/or weight who want to have a full range of options and strategies to help their clients thrive and feel empowered and excited about their health journey

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in This Interview

In this interview, we cover:

What most people truly want in a provider (e.g., therapist, dietitian, other helping profession)

What people don't want, but as providers we are often pulled to do

How the concept of psychological flexibility can be so crucial for providers

Why working on yourself and your own therapist or provider parts is always needed to continue to guide and empower your clients and patients in the most effective way

How the framework of Self-Determination Theory helps us understand what truly works to motivate and empower others

Some common client/patient presentations that can elicit anxiety in providers (ranging from weight gain as a response to intuitive eating to the opposite, having a client wanting to lose weight when their provider is recommending a non-diet approach)

How to adopt a non-shaming growth mindset versus a fixed mindset when it comes to all things weight, health, eating, and helping others

Are you a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients?

We are planning some super cool workshops and opportunities to learn and grow in community just for you!

Sign up today to be notified about these inspired offerings!

"We all want to feel secure and safe and feel good about what we are doing. The reality is that it's a very nuanced process to meet humans where they're at. I think our goal is reducing shame from all sides and also knowing it's super normal to judge people who aren't super aligned with you but if we keep doing that, it's just not helpful."- Shawn Hondorp, PhD

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other countries in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with. I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 90. This conversation is a looooong time coming! I'd like you to imagine this conversation is happening with Sapna and I at a little coffee shop in Philadelphia that was near Drexel University where we both went for grad school.

Our goal in this 2-part series is to have these episodes be relevant for:

People (whether you are an individual looking for an empowering healthcare team) who want to be inspired and motivated to create optimal health and thrive

Clinicians who work with people on their health, eating, and/or weight who want to have a full range of options and strategies to help their clients thrive and feel empowered and excited about their health journey

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in This Interview

In this interview, we cover:

Our biases and why we are so passionate about this work

Some of our experiences of the polarization in the health field (e.g., weight inclusive approaches, intuitive eating, versus weight management, etc.)

The ways this polarization or rigidity can harm individuals and the field at large

Some questions you can ask yourself to help determine which clinicians are the best fit for you and whether or not you may need new team members and/or different support along your journey

Also! If you are a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients...

Sapna and I are planning some super cool workshops and learning community opportunities just for you!

Next workshop is on Friday April 21st from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Sign up today using this link!

If that date has passed, then sign up here to be notified about out next offering!

"Ultimately people just want to be seen and heard and so when a client comes in and they are struggling with whatever, an eating disorder, they've gained weight over time, they want to work on weight loss, it's just like yes come talk to me I'm here to listen, I want to understand your experience and a lot of times when people come in saying they want to lose weight, if you dig deeper there's a lot underneath that."- Sapna Doshi, PhD

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 89. This is a conversation I've been wanting to have for a while. I loved talking to Sam in our episode in March of 2022. Check it out here. I brought her back on the podcast to help us better understand the pros and cons of high intensity exercise and help you to know whether or not it should be part of your journey now, or ever.

Join Our Upcoming Workshop!

Sign up today to join!

What to Expect in this Interview

In this interview, we cover:

What is high intensity exercise?

How we get little guidance on how to know what the right movement routine is at a given phase in your life

Some of my experiences trying to engage in high intensity interval training (at Orange Theory fitness) and what I've learned from it

Questions you can ask yourself to determine whether what should be part of your movement routine

A list of activities and ideas of what you can do for movement beyond some of the standard "shoulds"

Are you a therapist, dietitian or helping professional looking to learn more about the best ways to support and empower your clients?

We are planning some super cool workshops and opportunities to learn and grow in community just for you!

Sign up today to be notified about these inspired offerings!

Who is Samantha Barash?

Samantha Barash is an intuitive eating registered dietitian and the owner of Tap Into Nutrition, a nutrition counseling service dedicated to supporting individuals to cultivate a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.  Tap Into Nutrition utilizes a non-diet, weight-inclusive, Health at Every Size approach to empower their clients to break free from chronic dieting and understand nutrition in a gentle, evidence-based approach that emphasizes mental health as just as important as physical health.  During 1-on-1 individualized sessions, Samantha works with her clients to dive deep into their nutrition and dieting history to unlearn old mindsets. She will guide your journey to find peace with food while simultaneously becoming your healthiest self. 

Samantha Barash earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Dietetics from Michigan State University and then went off to complete her accredited internship at Wayne State University. When Sam isn’t supporting her clients to navigate their plates from a non-diet approach, she can be found motivating riders as the lead instructor at CycleBar in Troy, Michigan.  With Sam’s guidance, CycleBar in Troy has been able to cultivate an inclusive fitness space, welcoming to all identities, body sizes and fitness levels. As a registered dietitian and fitness professional, Samantha approaches her work from a “what can we add” vs. “what are we taking away” mentality.

You can find her on instagram @tapintonutrition and @samanthabarash and on her website at www.tapintonutrition.net

"The bottom line here is just coming back to the why. The why of why were doing this, why we are here, what are role is when it comes to high intensity movement and then letting our body help you figure out what it needs."- Samantha Barash, RD

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 88. When you think of your health and your health-related goals, what are the main areas you evaluate?

Your eating habits

Exercise routine

Health data like weight, cholesterol levels, etc.

What often is not considered as the first thought are things like sleep, stress and social relationships.

And one of the (many) ways that diet culture and over focus on weight loss can be harmful, is when it distracts us from the work that would truly be beneficial to our health long-term.

Today, we dive into one of those most important topics, your relationships. Mostly today we will focus on your romantic relationships, in my discussion with my good friend Dr. Mikhila Wildey, a true relationship expert.

What to Expect in this Interview

In this interview, we cover:

How your relationships (particularly your romantic relationship) affect your health

The ways in which over-focus on body and weight can distract us from more deeper truths that would lead to true healing

What does it mean to be "co-dependent", how common is it, and when should we be concerned about it?

How to respond if your partner is making unhelpful comments about your eating or your body

What to do if you fear (or have been told) that your partner is no longer attracted to you due to body changes

And much more!

Ready to Break the Emotional Eating Cycle for Good?

Ready to stop avoiding and break the binge eating cycle for good?

The first step is to tune in to your body with curiosity and awareness.

Grab the free step-by-step guide today!

Grab my free guide to disrupt the cycle of emotional eating today!

Who is Dr. Mikhila Wildey, PhD?

Dr. Wildey is a psychology professor at Grand Valley State University and clinical psychologist who has a private practice specializing in couples therapy. She received her PhD in clinical psychology at Michigan State University, and then worked in outpatient therapy with both individual adults and couples for two years prior to starting at Grand Valley State University in 2015. Since beginning her work at Grand Valley, she has maintained a limited private practice where she works exclusively with couples. In her role at the university, Dr. Wildey teaches courses in Psychopathology, Behavior Modification, and the department's practicum (or internship) course. She also conducts research on couple dynamics, mentors students, and currently serves as Assistant Chair of Advising, Enrollment, and Curriculum Development within the department. She is passionate about teaching and helping students find their own path in life. In her clinical work, she primarily uses an Emotionally-Focused therapeutic approach to help couples build stronger and more connected relationships. Dr. Wildey spends her free time with her husband and two children, and she loves to travel and explore new places both locally and abroad.

You can read about her private practice here and visit her faculty webpage here.

"When you have that relationship where you can lean on your partner and you can talk to them to things that are the scariest deepest darkest secrets that you can it can feel so empowering, it can feel like all of the other burdens and weights have been lifted in some way because you have this stable base that you can go back to and fall back on even when the external stress gets really rough."- Mikhila Wildey, PhD

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 87. This is a conversation I've been anticipating for a while now, but likely wouldn't have had even as recently as a few years ago.

To be honest, I was scared to do it. As a professional who believes that no one should feel pressure to lose weight, I don't want to have anyone see that I have a podcast about this topic and believe I think they should take these meds or be trying to shrink their body.

But you know why I was most nervous to have the episode?

Because I didn't want my professional colleagues to judge or think less of me.

I'm putting this episode out into the world because I believe individuals should not feel shame if they decide to make weight loss medications part of their journey.

I also strongly believe that our professional world is split into many different "us versus them" camps, and it's incredibly counterproductive.

We all have the same goals, to make our clients or patients feel good and well.

What to Expect in this Interview

In this interview, we cover:

Some of the history of weight loss medication options (and why I likely wouldn't have had an episode like this a few years ago)

A brief overview of weight loss medication options available (including a brief overview of non-GLP-1 agonist medications such as Contrave and Orlistat)

An overview of the mechanism of action for GLP-1 agonist medications (I get questions about these medications almost weekly lately)

Brief review of the risks and benefits from medical and psychological standpoints

Ready to Break the Emotional Eating Cycle for Good?

Ready to stop avoiding and break the binge eating cycle for good?

The first step is to tune in to your body with curiosity and awareness.

Grab the free step-by-step guide today!

Grab my free guide to disrupt the cycle of emotional eating today!

Medications We Covered

Dr. Egan gave a brief overview of some of the pros and cons of non-GLP-1 agonist options:

Contrave (combination of bupropion and naltrexone)

Qsymia (phentermine and Topiramate)

Orlistat

Plenity (newer medication, only very short-term studies)

GLP-1 Agonist Medications

Saxenda (liraglutide)

Wegovy (semaglutide)

Mounjaro (tirzepatide) - currently only approved for people with a diagnosis of diabetes. This medication is a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist.

Who is Dr. Celia Egan?

Dr. Egan joined True Women’s Health® over a year ago after practicing Obesity Medicine and Internal Medicine at Spectrum Health Medical Group.  At True, she focuses on what she loves including extensive patient care in medical weight management and providing evidence-based wellness expertise to women in a primary care setting.

Born and raised in West Michigan, Dr. Egan completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan. After earning her MD from New York Medical College, she completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center- New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, NY.  During her residency, she focused on outpatient weight management and Obesity Medicine with one of the field’s leading experts, Dr. Louis Aronne. 

After residency, she worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she gained extensive knowledge in advanced inpatient oncologic care and survivorship care.  After completing academic hospitalist work at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, IL she joined WellessenceMD, focusing on medical weight management, obesity medicine, and wellness in primary care. 

When not engrossed in medicine, Dr. Egan loves spending her free time being active and traveling with her husband, a local physician, and three sons.  They love exploring all of West Michigan including new restaurants, learning to ski, and hanging out on the beach.

You can find her on Instagram @celiaeganmd and on Facebook at True Womens Health.

"I think for every patient, information is always powerful and so we hope to just provide woman with information about what drugs are available."- Celia Egan, MD

Support Local Bookstores Near You!

Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?

Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!

My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. This model of healing has been incredibly helpful to me personally. I'm also using it with clients and seeing great results. This book isn't specific to eating or weight concerns, but is really one of the best ways I've found to help work with that deeper root cause of any behavior you are struggling with and I think you'll find it super interesting and valuable.

So if you believe in supporting local businesses and want to support my blog and podcast, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!

The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).