The Rachel Sellers Podcast

This episode is a bit more personal than her usual content but in it, Rachel shares with listeners some of the fun projects she's been up to and why she's been absent from the podcast. She talks about life as a dog mama, EMDR training, and about her newly published workbook, The Body Image Workbook For Every Body: Deconstructing diet culture and learning how to respect, nourish, and care for your whole self. She also discusses what to expect from the podcast in 2022! You can follow along (and see pictures of her fur son, Ollie) on Instagram: @iamrachelsellers. 

In this episode, Rachel and Lauren chat about all things perfectionism and procrastination. Lauren, a Nashville-based therapist, teacher, and speaker shares amazing insights into these topics, teaching us about the intersection of perfectionism and procrastination and how they're often much more intertwined than we think. Rachel and Lauren both talk openly about their own struggles with perfectionism and how they've healed/are healing. To learn more about Lauren and her work, you can visit her website or find her on Instagram @laurenruthmartin. 

In this episode, Rachel and Stefanie chat about binge eating and Binge Eating Disorder. Stefanie provides amazing education about binge eating, different kinds of triggers for binge eating, and the differences between overeating, emotional eating, and binge eating. Stefanie also talks about her own recovery journey and the tools that helped her the most. Stefanie is a Binge & Diet Culture Recovery Coach and a Certified Health Coach. You can find her on Instagram at @iamstefaniemichele or on her website, https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/. 

One of the ways we’ve made progress in the field of trauma is by recognizing that it’s not just the big stuff that “counts.” The mental health field now uses two categories to describe and label trauma: "Big T" and "Little t". In this episode, Rachel shares issues surrounding these distinctions, including how it perpetuates a narrow definition of trauma and fails to take into account how personal trauma truly is. Rachel talks about several factors that influence how trauma impacts a person, challenging these categories and naming the validity of any kind of trauma. 

Mainstream culture has adopted an extremely narrow-minded view and understanding of trauma, and we desperately need a paradigm shift. So in this episode, I talk about what trauma is, with hopes of expanding your understanding of the word. I define trauma as what happens in our bodies when we experience something overwhelming. I explain what exactly this means especially as it relates to our emotions and physical sensations. 

In this episode, Rachel defines and explores diet-culture, a system of beliefs that have idealized thinness at all costs and oppresses people who don't live up to this ideal. Rachel discusses what this has to do with eating disorders and why she's passionate about the anti-diet message. 

In this episode, Rachel discusses the role of dissociation and attachment in the development of eating disorders. Rachel highlights how eating disorders function to meet several core human needs and how important it is to address that in treatment. 

In this episode, Rachel dives into one of her favorite topics to speak and teach on-- the intersection of trauma and eating disorders. Rachel talks specifically about two factors that explain the relationship between trauma and ED's including coping with emotion and nervous system dysregulation and the need for power and control. She offers insight into the nature of trauma, revisiting several topics from Season 1 of the podcast on the Polyvagal Theory.

It's time to debunk some myths to help break down stigma! In this episode, Rachel addresses 5 common myths that people have about eating disorders. These myths include: eating disorders are about wanting to be skinny, eating disorders only affect rich, white, cisgender, females; eating disorders have a "look"; eating disorders are a choice; and lastly, people binge eat because they lack "willpower." Rachel offers information to counter these myths in order to help listeners gain a more accurate understanding of the nature of eating disorders. 

Rachel is kicking off Season 2 by providing an overview of the various types of eating disorders as well as what causes them. She begins to debunk several myths about eating disorders, a theme that will continue throughout the entirety of this season. Rachel also offers a preview of the various topics she'll cover in Season 2, including the underlying trauma and nervous system dysregulation that underly most eating disorders.