Picture Blurrfect

We are BACK! After a hiatus where host Naomi Charalambakis Wilkerson learned some hard lessons during maternity leave AND starting a new job, Picture Blurrfect kicks off Season 4 with Dr. Pamela Keel of Florida State University! Author of "The Voide Inside: Bringing Purging Disorder to Light," Dr. Keel shares how she identified and named purging disorder, an entirely distinct eating diso...

Naomi closes out Season 3 by reflecting on the interviews and experiences over the last year and for the first time, shares some questions she's gotten from you--the audience! How does one prepare for the holidays when in recovery? How do you approach someone you fear is struggling with an eating disorder?  *Note: Picture Blurrfect will be taking a hiatus until June-July 2024 as Naomi welcome...

Dr. Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis joins the podcast to share her vision for how technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to improve accessibility of eating disorder treatments. Naomi and Dr. Fitzsimmons-Craft discuss her work with Tessa, a rule-based chatbot that the National Eating Disorders Association recently used (and took down...

Yours truly takes the microphone to share her thoughts on how to overcoming "feeling guilty" after eating certain foods or meals while in eating disorder recovery. Just because you FEEL guilty doesn't necessarily mean there is something you SHOULD feel guilty about. Book Naomi Mentions: 1. The Weight of Beautiful by Jackie Goldschneider Note: Please do not read until you feel strong...

Dr. Sam Hahn of Central Michigan University joins the podcast to discuss one of her recent papers that examines how weight perception--how one personally views themselves in terms of overweight, normal weight, underweight--and its potential changes throughout adolescence could predict disordered eating patterns in young adulthood. The episode also touches on Dr. Hahn's interest in investigati...

Time to geek out a little bit this week because who doesn't love to talk about the brain!? Naomi sits down with Dr. Rachel Ross of Albert Einstein College of Medicine to chat about her latest publication in Physiology & Behavior that examines how a specific receptor in the prefrontal cortex--the very front part of our brain--influences food-related decision making. Dr. Ross shares the imp...

Naomi sits down with Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer of the University of Minnesota to chat about how she became interested in weight-related problems among young people, and how this work culminated into her now thriving research lab, "Project EAT" (Eating and Activity over Time). Topics that emerge from the discussion include: yoga and mindfulness and its connection to eating disorder/diso...

Naomi sits down with Dr. Ruth Knight of York St. John University to explore why we often forget to talk about disability when it comes to eating disorder/disordered eating research. As we strive to be more inclusive and representative in our research, are we making the effort to ask individuals with lived experience what they are going through and adjust research instruments/methodologies accordin...

Naomi lets it rip about her views on the healthcare workforce and their treatment of eating disorders/mental conditions after her recent experience at the doctor. The lack of insurance coverage for mental conditions (and especially eating disorders) and the nonstop news about Ozempic/Wegovy were also thrown in the rant for good measure.  If you have faced discriminstration at the doctor given your...

The lovely Jessica Schleider, PhD of Stonybrook University (soon to be Northwestern!) joins the podcast to discuss her latest paper in the International Journal of Eating Disorders that focuses on data from Project Body Neutrality. Results are promising and indicative of the effectiveness of brief, accessible interventions in reducing mental health problems, including disordered eating, body dissa...

You ever how the fear of people's perception of you changes how you see yourself, particularly when it comes to your weight and body image? Naomi sits down with Dr. Nora Trompeter (University College London) to discuss her latest paper on the bidirectional relationship between negative evaluation (e.g., the fear of being judged) and weight/shape concerns. Naomi and Dr. Trompeter discuss the i...

Naomi sits down with Brianne Leeson to share her story on how she started recovery for anorexia at the age 15 but wasn't diagnosed as autistic and ADHD until much later in life. Brianne sheds light on how autistic individuals often don't experience hunger the same way as others, and her relationship with food changed when she finally learned she was also experiencing ARFID (Avoidant/Rest...

We all know how quickly (and dangerously) an eating disorder can strip us of our identity... to the point where we are convinced there IS no life away from the eating disorder.  How do you re-establish your sense of self in recovery? How do you become someone that's not defined by the eating disorder? Naomi shares her thoughts. Help is always available. Check out these resources: NEDA Helplin...

Naomi sits down with Dr. Tiffany Brown of Auburn University who studies eating disorders in populations that are frequently overlooked, particularly men and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Turns out, we are just starting to uncover data and trends about these groups. Dr. Brown shares her research on day hospital treatment outcomes among sexual minority patients as well as the efficacy of cognitive dissonanc...

Grad student spotlight! The first one for Season 3. Jordan Schueler, Clinical Psychology PhD student at Texas A&M University joins the podcast to share her research on intermittent fasting and its relation to binge eating, impulsivity, among other behaviors. Jordan also talks about her dissertation work looking at the effectiveness of tele-health vs. in-person intervention for eating disorder...

Dr. Alix Timko of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia sits down with Naomi to discuss one of her recent paper how we diagnose and effectively classify orthorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that's characterized by a fixation on food purity and an avoidance of "unhealthy foods." Dr. Timko makes the case that orthorexia is not a "new" or separate eating disorder, bu...

In the second episode of Season 3, Naomi sits down with Dr. Amy Egbert of the University of Connecticut to talk about her research on eating disorders and disordered eating patterns among youth from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. Importantly, Dr. Egbert discusses her investigation into how race and ethnicity have been reported in eating disorder studies over the last 20 years, incl...

Welcome to Season 3! Naomi spends the first episode of season three breaking down the new childhood obesity guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics early this year. The first set of guidelines issued in 15 years, the document states that children as young as 12 can be prescribed weight loss pharmacotherapy and adolescents as young as 13 (previously 16) can receive a referral for me...

In the final (!) episode of Season 2, Dr. Lisa Anderson of the University of Minnesota joins Picture Blurrfect to share her research exploring the link between "feeling fat," interoceptive awareness, and feelings such as guilt, depression, and disgust. As a fairly new area of study, Dr. Anderson and Naomi discuss how these results could inform future research and, more importantly, poten...

Dr. Ann Haynos joins the podcast to share all about how her research uses neuroscience to inform clinical interventions. First, Dr. Haynos explains the role of studying "resting state functional connectivity" in eating disorders, and the parts of the brain involved in reward processing; it's especially fascinating to hear how it compares between eating disorder patients and healthy...

Jason Nagata, MD, MS, from the University of California San Francisco joins the podcast to share his recent work in examining the prevalence of preadolescent eating disorders in the U.S. Additionally, Dr. Nagata explains the role and importance of vitamin D in eating disorder recovery, sharing recent results he recently published on vitamin D levels among males hospitalized for eating disorders. T...

Naomi shares what she's been personally going through over the last 1.5 years but has been wary of opening up due to the sheer stigma of the topic... unfortunately, though,  so many individuals go through this particular struggle and it is one that has the potential of wrecking your recovery alongside your mental and emotional wellbeing.  If you're struggling with a challenging life circ...

Naomi revisits The Wall Street Journal expose on how Facebook was made aware  of internal research data showing the negative impacts of its app Instagram on young people and failed to act. What did the expose say and have we made any progress in making social media a positive tool for young people? Why DOES Instagram suck us into the "compare and despair" spiral and what does that mean f...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains details about eating and exercises habits related to eating disorders. Please ensure you are in a safe place mentally and emotionally before listening, and seek help if you need assistance (resources below). In a very special episode of Picture Blurrfect, Aggie, Blanca, and Adam join the podcast to share their story of living with and recovering from an eatin...

Naomi chats with Dr. Janet Lydecker of Yale University about weight-based bullying: what it is, what it looks like, and how we can begin to address it as a scientific and clinical community. In addition to sharing some of weight bullying's key characteristics, Dr. Lydecker explains the association between weight stigma and bullying, and how parents/teachers/loved ones can facilitate a dialogu...