Strong Enough by Eating Disorders Families Australia

Have you ever heard the expression I’ve had a gutful or I’ve got a gut feeling about this? Or maybe the adage you are what you eat? Well like many old sayings there’s a real world link and today’s guest  Accredited Practising Dietitian Kim Menzies is going to unpack for us the incredible connection between the brain and the gut - in fact the gut is now often called our ‘second brain’. There a...

Katie Bennett Stenton is the kind of powerhouse you want in your orbit. This is a woman who manages crisis issues for a living so she’s cool, collected and compassionate. Deeply optimistic, she is a firm believer that grit and perseverance will overcome anything. But just a few years ago the crisis was happening in her family home and she was struggling to manage it. Katie’s daughter was diagnosed...

Eating disorder recovery can be a complex rollercoaster with many moving parts. And treatment can include a mix of medical monitoring, nutrition, medicine and most often some kind of therapy. But let’s face it – the kinds of therapies available can be a confusing soup of acronyms CBT, ECBT, FBT, AFT to name a few.  And we often hear carers asking - what is the best therapy to treat eating dis...

In a world first Australia is raising the age of access to social media from 13 to 16. And there are plenty of questions: Why are we changing the age of access to social media? What are the impacts of social media on the brain? Why should parents support the social media ban for teens? How can we help young people with social media withdrawal symptoms? “The current 13 year old minimum age isn...

“Causes of an eating disorder” would have to be one of the most searched questions by carers wanting to understand or find a solution to their loved one’s eating disorder. But could it be that disordered eating is caused by a perfect storm of brain chemistry? Our guest on Strong Enough Dr Leanne Barron believes with the right interventions, including the introduction of the right gut bacteria and...

When you hear from your loved one the words “I want to be more healthy” – it’s not what think of as a potential red flag for disordered eating or even something to worry about. But for Jason Wood this desire to improve his health started his obsession with only eating healthy food, choosing the healthiest options and exercising, which escalated into an eating disorder that nearly killed him. What...

It’s been just over a decade since AFRID or Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder was officially identified as an eating disorder. ARFID is not about dieting or body image or weight loss, but the symptoms and signs of ARFID can often be mistaken for anorexia or bulimia It is more than being a fussy eater or a picky eater. There can be a fear of food, anxiety around swallowing or chewing or eat...

Disordered eating is on the rise in Australia and there are some common signs of eating disorders that parents and carers often miss. Disordered eating can range from the more well known restriction on the amount of food, to only eating one or two specific foods or being afraid to eat because you’re worried you might choke. Another potential sign of disordered eating can be an obsession with clean...

It is a complete understatement to say that refeeding after an eating disorder or reintroducing food after an eating disorder can be challenging. “What is refeeding?” is one of the most common questions Eating Disorders Families Australia receives from carers, who are grappling with the emotional highs and lows, confusion over what to prioritise in refeeding, and how to make things easier or bette...

As you care for your loved one with an eating disorder, have you ever thought ‘if only I could see inside their head and find out what’s going on!’ In this episode of the Strong Enough podcast Zoe Sheehan gives you a chance to do just that as she describes her experience of healing from Anorexia, Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia and Body Dysmorphia over more than a decade. Zoe talks about the treatm...

Wondering what medications might help with eating disorders? We know there is no silver bullet pill or tablet that will “fix” or “cure” an eating disorder but there are a range of medications that can be used in conjunction with traditional treatment options and it may be that a simple change in dose will make the world of difference. This podcast is an edited version of an EDFA webinar on Eating...

When the subtle signs of disordered eating sneak into a home parents and carers often wonder: when should I worry? When is disordered eating serious? What should I do first if I suspect an eating disorder? Paediatric Dietitian Lyza Norton shares her years of experience with thousands of families navigating disordered eating. She gives us some insights into the different kinds of disordered diets,...

What if there was something you could do as a carer for a loved one with an eating disorder that could have a huge impact on how well you cope? Something that would boost your resilience and your ability to stay the distance in this challenging role?   What if it could be as simple as paying attention? Would you try it?   Mindfulness is often dismissed as something that you might be no g...

Wondering what are the age limits for social media like Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok? Find out the story behind the world first decision to increase age limits on social platforms from the advocates and academics involved in the process EDFA Executive Director Jane Rowan and Dr Simon Wilksch, Clinic Director at Advanced Psychology Services and a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University spea...

You might think this podcast episode is one just for the men in the lives of loved ones with eating disorders, but it is much more than that. It is a real insight into the roles men play when mental health issues, illness and eating disorders darken a doorway. It will help everyone in a family or partnership or caring role understand the challenges of caring that hit different for men. It was...

Back to basics with food after an eating disorder with Dietitian Shane Jeffery, using the five step RAVES model for a positive food relationship Have you ever thought how complicated eating is these days? We live in a world where we’re bombarded with diet culture content and body image ideals – where food is staged with lights and filters and thousands of pretty, perfect plates are just a phone sw...

When there’s a diagnosis of an eating disorder in a family it often impacts more than just one person and the rest of the family, particularly siblings, can feel the wide reaching ripples of change, of worry and concern, of isolation and even anger.   It’s a whole other layer of suffering that comes with unique challenges, which is why Eating Disorders Families Australia runs separate support...

  Meet Jenny Langley, an international Carer Coach and Trainer, helping families communicate better when a loved one is diagnosed with an eating disorder. Jenny runs skills based training workshops in the New Maudsley Model, which was developed at London’s Maudsley Hospital by world leading clinical and academic psychiatrist in eating disorders, Professor Janet Treasure. The program teaches c...

If you want to know how to build your resilience when caring for a loved one with an eating disorder then this is the Strong Enough podcast episode for you. Our guest Hugh van Cuylenburg is one of the hosts of Australia’s most beloved podcasts “The Imperfects” and he runs The Resilience Project a national program teaching practical wellbeing strategies to build mental health resilience in the comm...

Your questions about eating disorders ANSWERED! Eating Disorders Families Australia runs multiple online eating disorder support groups to support the carers of people diagnosed with eating disorders ranging from anorexia and bulimia to food avoidance disorder and avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder, also known as ARFID. EDFA's lived experience forum moderators asked support group members fo...

For more than 30 years Professor Tracey Wade has been at the forefront of eating disorder research, clinical practice and public policy. Currently the Director of the Flinders Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University, Professor Wade has co-written three therapy books, published hundreds of papers and has just been awarded the 2023: Australian Association for Cognitive and B...

What is refeeding? Should I put extra calories in meals? How do I stay calm at the dinner table? What is the magic plate theory? Eva Musby , our guest on this episode of Strong Enough, tackles all these questions (and more) about the refeeding stage of eating disorder recovery. You might know Eva from her international best selling book or her popular workshops but Eva is actually not her real nam...

“You think how could we have that family love again? How can we ever have what we had before? But it’s there, it’s possible and it comes back.” Leah, Carer and Eating Disorders Families Australia supporter. Leah's daughter had been struggling with mental health challenges when an eating disorder diagnosis rocked the family. In this heartfelt podcast - the second in EDFA's Strong Enough season - Le...

When a loved one is diagnosed with an eating disorder it can be difficult to know where to start. In this first episode of Strong Enough - a podcast from Eating Disorders Families Australia - Executive Director Jane Rowan talks us through EDFA's eating disorder diagnosis checklist, using her lived experience as a carer for a daughter diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. EDFA is a national organisation...

You're listening because you care. You're here because you want to know more. You're here because you are .... Strong Enough Strong Enough is the new podcast from Eating Disorders Families Australia, an organisation caring for carers around the country. Self care is vital. Use the short meditation at the start of each podcast to take a moment for yourself or jump to the one minute mark for this 5...