The Appetite

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...

When you come to terms with the fact that diets just don’t work, what comes next? Listen to your hunger and fullness! In this episode, Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, CD talks with host Carter Umhau, LMHC about what it looks like to eat from a place of attunement, rather than the rules and structures of one diet or another. Julie and Carter will walk through how to...

Love is in the air! Embrace new ways of thinking about the different kinds of love in your life by joining Opal’s “love tour.” All three of Opal’s Co-Founders--Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS--join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explore “irrationally crazy love,” “limerence,” “radically open kindness,” and “amae"--terms for love that show up in all kind...

Envy shows up in all kinds of relationships, but how often does it actually make us closer to one another?  Host Carter Umhau, LMHC talks with Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS about their envy for one another and explore the ways in which their envy--after it almost created distance--brought them into a deeper relationship as business partners and friends...

Virginia Sole-Smith--author of The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America and co-host of the Comfort Food podcast--joins host Carter Umhau, LMHC to share the story of how the feeding issues that arose for her newborn daughter inspired a new way of thinking about body trust and the diet industry in America. Virginia and Carter talk body image, parenting, feminism, and what i...

How can perfectionism and the avoidance of failure be keeping you from living out your values and desires? Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Carter Umhau, LMHC draw from experiences in their own lives (basketball and writing, respectively) to explore the differences between perfectionism and excellence, and how to embrace mistakes as a means of learning. In sharing both their own stories...

Former collegiate and professional football player Patrick Devenney joins us again for the second of two episodes, expanding on his eating disorder recovery story and sharing the identity crisis that ensued upon leaving professional athletics. Patrick joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS (Opal’s Co-founder, Clinical Director, and head of the Sport+Exercise Program) in this laid-back conversation around ho...

Former professional football player Patrick Devenny joins Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT to share his eating disorder recovery story. He offers his perspective on the unique challenges that men--particularly male athletes--face in seeking and receiving care for food and body-related issues. In this first of two episodes, Patrick--an advocate for eating disorder awareness--talks gym culture, why...

Holiday festivities, time with family, and a change in routine often inspire a diet or “lifestyle change” immediately following. May we suggest that you consider NOT starting a diet this new year? In this episode, Opal's Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN and host Carter Umhau, LMHC discuss the negative physical and psychological ramifications of diet-mentality, how the diet industry has been re...

It’s possible that the punishment you inflict on yourself may be preventing you from healthy, happy relationships. In this episode Opal Co-Founder Dr. Lexi Giblin explores why self-punishment can actually be selfish. Plus, Lexi and host Carter Umhau, LMHC offer an alternative—self-forgiveness—which may bring you closer to those around you.    

Mark Canlis, third generation co-owner of Canlis, a Seattle fine dining institution, Relais & Chateau property, and James Beard award winning restaurant--joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Julie Church, RD, CD, CEDRD, and host Carter Umhau, LMHC around the table, to share stories in the spirit of Thanksgiving. As the women of the Appetite bring their clinical expertise and compassion for those stru...

What would you wear if you were more concerned with self-expression than you were about something “flattering” or “thinning”? Drawing from her experiences doing “retail therapy” outings with clients, Dr. Lexi Giblin describes the psychology of clothing beyond thin-optics. Host Carter Umhau, LMHC chimes in about past body image concerns and her own struggle to define a style congruent with her sens...

In this second of a two-part series, this episode will literally take you inside the dressing room and in front of the mirror with The Appetite. Exploring self-expression and her identity through style, host Carter Umhau, LMHC gets led through a styling session at Armoire--a Seattle fashion rental startup. Opal Co-Founder Lexi Giblin, PhD shares her thoughts on the psychology of clothing, while Ar...

In Part 1: Good Grief, we discussed processing grief through ritual and how grief is part of our relationships with food and body.  For Part 2,  Clinical Director and Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi and Primary Therapist and host of The Appetite Carter Umhau talk with Arlene Thomas about her story of profound loss and how she was able to integrate her own experiences into her work as a therap...

Halloween is on its way and there’s likely candy everywhere...and that’s not a bad thing! This episode is certainly for  adults who feel like you don’t have enough “willpower” when you’re suddenly around candy, but also for parents, struggling to figure out what attitude they should have when letting their kids have candy.  Opal Co-Founder Julie Church, RDN, CD, CEDRD sits down with host...

Have you ever considered that maybe your unprocessed grief could be keeping you from the transformations you’re desiring in your life? Opal Co-Founders Julie Church, RD,CD, CEDRD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Lexi Giblin, PhD., CEDS join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explore the necessity of grief and how mainstream American culture often doesn’t hold space for rituals and rights around the grief we al...

What does it look like for two middle-school-aged girls to have been parented by eating disorder specialists? Opal Co-Founders Kara and Lexi talk about parenting around food and body image concerns.  Plus  their daughters Ila and Sophia join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to dish out the wisdom!

Does weight really matter when it comes to sport performance? Host Carter Umhau, LMHC, and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS explore culture around food and body within the sport world, and the idealization of the athlete. Kara, Clinical Director and former division I collegiate distance runner, shares her own experience with an eating disorder, and we bring in dietitian Kelly Finan, RDN with the hard scienc...

What does your fear tell you about the particularity of your values or desires? Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS talks with host, Carter Umhau, LMHCA about the role of fear in personal growth. Lexi and Carter discuss the Facing Fears therapy group at Opal, why risk-taking matters. Connect with us: theappetite@opalfoodandbody.com www. OpalFoodandBody.com www.facebook.com/Opal https://twitter.com/opalfood...

In this mini episode, host Carter Umhau, LMHCA--therapist, artist, and writer-- explains the story behind naming The Appetite. Citing a revelation from The Minnesota Starvation Experiment around the differences between hunger and appetite, Carter speaks to how tuning into the specificity of one's appetite translates to a greater appetite for other areas of life.  Links and Resources: www.refi...

Today's episode features the story of Sarah Taylor--The Appetite's behind-the-scenes magic-maker! Sarah talks with host Carter Umhau, MA, LMHCA, and explores the story of her own recovery from an eating disorder, sharing about her experiences in treatment and the deeper healing that happened after-the-fact. Considering that every recovery story is so different, Sarah gracefully shares the ways tha...

Regular listener Tam O’Donnell joins us to respond to a previous episode, “How to Eat in a Food-Obsessed World.” Tam brings questions and wonderings around how to provide both structure and freedom for kids around food, and asks the crucial and vulnerable question of, “Can I really trust my body?” The Opal team, including Julie Church, RDN, CEDS, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Carter Umhau, LMHCA, re...

Would you engage yourself differently if you assumed that all the emotions you experienced had something to teach you? Today, Opal: Food+Body Wisdom’s Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS, and Carter Umhau, MA, LMHCA explore the process of “self-inquiry”--a key tool in Radically Open DBT. Self-inquiry is all about seeking growth rather than trying to fix one’s shortcomings. In this episode, Lexi will lean into...

It's common to hear messages in the sports world like "More is better!" "No pain, no gain!" or "Keep pushing!" Sports Psychologist Riley Nickols,PhD, Director of The Victory Program at McCallum Place, joins Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS to explore the athletic identity and how widespread ways of thinking about performance as an athlete may also translate into other areas of an athlete's l...

In this heartfelt and vulnerable conversation, host Carter Umhau, MA, LMHCA, asks Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin PhD, CEDS, Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, CD, and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS about who they were when they were younger and how the people that came before them influenced the women and leaders they’ve become. This episode is released in honor of Mother’s Day.  ​ Links: Betty Reid Soskin:&nbs...