Eating Disorders in Discussion, Wednesday's Child

In this episode, Abi Reynolds, who has often shared her experiences of an eating disorder on the Wednesday’s Child podcast, talks about featuring in a very special exhibition in London. The project has been led by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance – an organisation Wednesday’s Child is proud to be involved with. Abi was one of a number of women selected to share their story about the true realit...

When should you return to exercise – if indeed you would like to? How do you make sure you’re choosing to increase your movement for the right reasons? How do you hold yourself accountable and remain safe, without threating eating disorder recovery progress? Debbie chats with Sarah Parker for this latest episode of the Wednesday’s Child podcast. They discuss motivations, considerations and why it’...

Debbie is joined by Sarah Parker, eating disorders therapist, to discuss the ‘all in’ route to recovery. Many people elect to consider ‘all in’ as a way of more speedily exiting the world of an eating disorder, but not everyone finds it to be an approach they can manage. It certain is a pathway which requires a great deal of contemplation, support from others, and some robust medical observation a...

In this latest episode from the Wednesday’s Child podcast, Debbie chats to therapist and author Sally Baker. Sally has decades of experience in writing books and carrying out 121 therapy, predominantly related to relationships with food and body. She’s a master in unpicking the idea that eating disorders need just be seen as ‘a matter of food’. In this conversation, she talks candidly about how we...

Do eating disorders often co-exist with neurodivergence? Is it more likely, that you’ll have an eating disorder if you’re neurodiverse? What do we need to understand if we’re caring for someone for whom neurodiversity is a factor? In this latest eating disorder podcast episode, Debbie and specialist ED therapist Sarah Parker talk about these important issues and consider whether there is indeed a...

Eating disorder recovery is tough. It’s super tough. It’s hard on the person trying to get well (or knowing they should!) and it’s equally hard on those who love that individual and want to do the best they can to support. In today’s episode, Debbie talks to Sarah Parker about the challenge of choosing recovery, and about how you support someone through recovery – while possibly knowing that the p...

In this episode, we come at the eating disorder discussion from the perspective of a mother. Not just a mother – but a mother whose daughter is already an accomplished adult, but falls into anorexia and exercise compulsion. Debbie and Sharon discuss how the eating disorder arrived into family life, how it manifested itself, and how challenging it was to find help. Full disclosure – Sharon credits...

Wednesday’s Child is back in the routine of podcasting, and here, we bring you our first ‘discussion’ episode of the new series. Debbie chats with Sarah Parker, a specialist eating disorder therapist who supports people using a number of treatment modalities. Having originally worked in the NHS, and having herself fully recovered from an eating disorder many years ago, she is part of the Wednesday...

For too long, we’ve been hinting at returning with a frequent podcast. As often happens for any of us – life gets in the way. Well, no more excuses or procrastination. We’re back! In this brief episode, Debbie drops into the airwaves to share about the return of the Wednesday’s Child podcast and to encourage messages and questions from any of you in the eating disorder community who have something...

Flying solo for this episode, Debbie Watson refreshes our audience on what led to Wednesday’s Child being created. She also shares some key pointers on motivators for recovery success. Debbie talks about the need to focus on improved physical health, nurtured emotional health, genuinely gaining control, building and sustaining relationships, and having focus on dreams and ambitions. Please do feel...

It’s been sometime since we caught up with the wonderful Sarah Parker, specialist eating disorder therapist. Under the name Well Of Being, her business helps many individuals and families to navigate their recovery. Here, she chats with Debbie about what you should look for in a therapy relationship, while also giving her thoughts on the current landscape of eating disorder support. You can find S...

After another (far too long) pause in recording of the Wednesday’s Child podcast, Sarah and Debbie are back to help you find focus and kickstart your recovery in 2024. In this episode, we talk about our own learnings of navigating recovery from an eating disorder, and share tips for how you might gain motivation, commitment and positivity in the year ahead. We also share our advice for those of yo...

Are you in the process of recovering and still drawn toward particular behaviours? Do you find yourself witnessing a loved one slip back into specific unhealthy eating disorder behaviours? In this episode, Sarah and Debbie reflect on how they dealt with particular behaviours in their eating disorder recovery journey. They cover tactics around removing yourself from the situation momentarily, askin...

What’s it like to develop an eating disorder when you’re away from home for the first time, embarking on life as a university student? Perhaps you’ve had eating behaviours in the past, been concerned about your body image, or had an addiction to movement and exercise – do these factors make it more challenging to even consider a move to university? Here, as we prepare for the period in which many...

After a rather long pause in recording, Sarah and Debbie are back in the seat, talking all things eating disorders on the Wednesday’s Child podcast. In this episode, our hosts discuss the importance of checking in with yourself and asking what your recovery path needs most in life right now. They share their own experiences of choosing university, of learning to be less ‘externally validated’, and...

In this episode, we follow up on a mailbox request, which sought answers about how best to look after yourself in eating disorder recovery, while at the same time being a parent. How do you prioritise yourself, but equally take care of your children and the demands of family life? How do you navigate a child’s desire for family foodie outings, or tackle a youngster’s issues around body image, when...

In this episode, we welcome back our wonderful Perinatal Lead here at Wednesday’s Child, Abi Reynolds She’s joined in her conversation with Debbie, by Chantelle Ecob, who is a trainee clinical psychologist and is keen to gain more insights into the experiences of women who relapse into, or first suffer from, an eating disorder in pregnancy or soon afterwards. We’ll be keeping in regular contact wi...

This episode sees the return of our duo Debbie and Sarah. Here, they chat at the close of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and use the opportunity to reinforce the need to always ‘turn talk into action’. Throughout this episode, you’ll hear a number of lived experience reflections about what it takes to keep pivoting from hinge behaviours, and to continually challenge the eating disorder’s unhelpf...

In this episode, we catch up with our lovely therapist Sarah Smetham (Sarah Parker, until her recent nuptials!), where she and Debbie discuss how relationships change as we transition through our eating disorder recovery. Sarah reveals how her own relational needs changed in her progress beyond an eating disorder, and, as a practitioner, she gives guidance on being aware of our own needs and recog...

What are the new options being considered for treating those who are seemingly ‘resistant’ to more freely available therapy? In this episode, we take a deep dive into the world of Awakn Life Sciences, and hear from clinical psychologist Laurie Higbed, as she explains how Awakn’s clinics are working with those who’ve been battling long term eating issues, as well as addictions – like gambling and a...

We continue an exploration of how to gain and maintain recovery momentum in the early part of 2023. Debbie and Sarah chat about what we can do to be more proactive in our desire for full health and happiness, and in order to prevent the small but significant slide into behaviours and thoughts. Listen as our hosts talk about the tactical steps which improve how we feel in this moment, one day from...

Sarah and Debbie kickstart 2023 with an episode exploring how to maintain recovery momentum in the face of ‘new year, new you’ dialogue and a world obsessed with January self-improvement. Our hosts share insights into how they managed to downplay the cultural narrative in new year periods throughout their recovery, and offer timely advice for parents and carers seeking to help loved ones move forw...

In this episode, Debbie checks in with Pippa, who we’ve previously featured on the podcast in a candid chat about her own journey with an eating disorder. Here, she chats about how she’s been reshaping her life, rediscovering passions, remaining vigilant, and even managing to safely and successfully return to a level of exercise which brings her joy without compulsion. We also talk about the valua...

In this insightful episode of the Wednesday’s Child podcast, we chat to Isabel Leming, one of the most recent arrivals to our Wednesday’s Child practitioner team. Isabel talks about her therapeutic approaches and about the various kinds of modalities you may come across when seeking recovery support for an eating disorder. We explore the timing of therapy intervention, the important factors to bea...

For all the discussion and debate on the media right now about the cost of living, the price of food, and the fear about heating our homes, there may be many of you who’ve silently thought ‘what about me and how it affects my eating disorder’. Perhaps you’re a parent or carer of someone whose binge behaviours put huge strain on the household bills. Perhaps you’re someone recently out of treatment...