The Full of Beans Podcast

Have you ever sat in a treatment room and felt like the real you was completely invisible, like the system was so focused on your weight, your behaviours, your diagnosis, that it forgot there was a whole person underneath? This episode is for you. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast, I'm joined by Tanya Francis, a research psychologist, lecturer at the Open University, and psychotherapist in pr...

Have you ever found yourself trying to balance the needs of your eating disorder, your treatment team, your family, and somewhere in the middle of all of that, completely losing sight of yourself? This episode is for you. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast , I'm joined by Sarah Parker, a psychotherapist based in West Yorkshire, who brings both professional expertise in eating disorder therapy...

Have you ever felt like your eating disorder didn't have a name, or that what you were going through just didn't quite fit? This episode is for you. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast , I'm joined by Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Associate Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London. Ruth has a background in French literature, but has carved out a truly unique space in eating disorder research, u...

When an eating disorder enters a relationship, it doesn’t just affect one person; it changes the space between you. This episode explores how. In this week’s episode of Full of Beans , I’m joined by Charlotte Jefferson, psychotherapist and founder of CRJ Therapy, to explore how eating disorders impact relationships, communication, intimacy, and trust. In this conversation, Charlotte brings a relat...

Have you ever found yourself struggling to navigate social media in recovery, comparing, doom scrolling, and falling into patterns you thought you'd left behind? This episode is for you. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast , I'm joined by Sophie Macfie, founder of Soph's Plant Kitchen, cookbook author, and personal trainer, who shares her own experience of disordered eating and how she's built...

Have you ever thought you've spent too long ill with an eating disorder, that there's just no way you can recover from an eating disorder? If that's you, this episode is for you. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast , I'm joined by Andrea Stroud, mum to Joshua, Jacob and Tommy who has lived with anorexia, in secret, for over 40 years. Andrea hopes that by sharing her story and the reality of liv...

Have you ever felt like you’re constantly trying to "fit into a box" that just wasn't made for you? This week on the Full of Beans Podcast, Han is joined by Dr. Lauren Lovegood, a psychologist who specialises in the intersection of Eating Disorders, Neurodiversity (ADHD/Autism), and the LGBTQ+ community. We talk about the "internal sense of difference" that so many of us feel growing up and how, s...

We often view exercise as the "golden ticket" for mental health, but for those navigating eating disorders, the line between movement and compulsion is incredibly thin. In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Dr. Amit Mistry, a Consultant Sports Psychiatrist at the Nightingale Hospital. Amit brings a unique dual perspective to the table, advocating for the robust mental health be...

Anecdotally, we know there is a correlation between eating disorders and suicide, yet until now, there has been no published research to show that. This week on the Full of Beans Podcast, Han is joined by Dr Una Foye, a Research Fellow at King's College London, who is leading the qualitative arm of an MQ-funded study exploring why people with eating disorders are at higher risk of suicide and self...

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans , I’m joined by Dr Jessica Eccles, an award-winning researcher and neurodevelopmental psychiatrist specialising in the links between brain and body, particularly as they relate to hypermobility. Jessica is an Associate Professor in Brain-Body Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Also, she works in the Sussex NHS Neurodevelopmental Service, where s...

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, we are joined by Dr. Hannah Lewis, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Queen Mary University of London. Hannah’s work sits at the vital intersection of eating disorder prevention and school-based body image interventions. We step inside the halls of Westminster to discuss a recent Eating Disorder & Education Roundtable convened by the APPG on Eating Disorders...

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans , I’m joined by Joshua Hills, a nutritionist, sports therapist, and author of You Can Eat That , whose work challenges diet culture and helps people feel calmer, more flexible, and more themselves around food. Joshua shares how growing up alongside his mum’s experience of anorexia shaped the way he understands food, connection, and recovery. In this episode,...

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, I’m joined by Jacqui Russon, an occupational therapist and accredited DBT therapist, to explore the overlap between eating disorders and addiction. We talk about the obsessive thinking, shame, rigidity, and emotional pain that can sit beneath both, and what this means for recovery. In this episode, we discuss: The similarities and differences between eating...

In this episode, Hannah is joined by Judy Krasna, Executive Director of F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment for Eating Disorders). Judy is a writer and eating disorder advocate based in Israel, and after volunteering for F.E.A.S.T. in multiple capacities, she became the organisation's Executive Director in February 2021. Judy joins Hannah for a deeply moving and insightful conv...

In this episode, I'm joined by Mel Nelson, a qualified counsellor, Senior Counsellor at an eating disorder charity ( SWEDA ), and autism-informed practitioner, to discuss the intersection of undiagnosed neurodiversity, compulsive exercise, and eating disorder behaviours. Mel spent over 25 years working in the dance and fitness industry before retraining as a counsellor, and she brings together a r...

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by Holly Marsh, a psychotherapeutic counsellor who specialises in eating disorders in private practice, and someone who also brings her own lived experience of recovery into the room. Holly shares how, during her own recovery, she often found parts of treatment confusing… especially when they seemed to echo the very voice she was trying to challenge of not bein...

In this episode of the Full of Beans Podcast, I’m joined by Professor Hubertus Himmerich, Consultant Psychiatrist and Reader in Eating Disorders at King’s College London, and the principal investigator of the EDEN study. The EDEN study is the first study of its kind exploring whether low-dose oral ketamine, compared with placebo, could support people living with both anorexia nervosa and major dep...

In this episode of the Full of Beans Podcast, I’m joined by Mel Ciavucco, an integrative counsellor, writer and trainer, to talk about weight stigma and the impact it has on eating disorder treatment and recovery. This conversation explores something that often sits at the heart of eating disorders but is still too often left unspoken: the fear of weight gain, the internalised beliefs people hold...

Today I’m joined by Dr Charlotte Markey , Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University and a world-leading expert in body image research with over 25 years of research into body image and eating behaviours. Girls today are facing growing pressures around appearance, and with the rise of social media and the lasting impact of the pandemic, it’s becoming even harder for young people to feel confide...

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Vanessa Longley, CEO of BEAT, the UK’s eating disorder charity. Vanessa is also a mum to a 21-year-old who is in recovery, and she brings a deeply compassionate perspective on what it’s really like to support someone you love through an eating disorder. This conversation was recorded during Eating Disorder Awareness Week, where the theme is...

Today I'm joined by Dr Courtney Raspin, a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Clinical Director of Altum Health, a specialist eating disorders and mental health clinic in London. Courtney has over 25 years of clinical experience, including a decade in one of the NHS's largest eating disorder services. She's just co-authored a book called The Weight Loss Prescription with psychiatrist Dr Max Pem...

In this episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Jo Read, a mum to two daughters, ARFID advocate and 1/3 of 3 Mums 1 Mission ARFID. Jo's youngest daughter, Ethel, is diagnosed with ARFID and is awaiting an autism assessment. Since supporting Ethel through her sensory-based eating difficulties, Jo has poured her energy into raising awareness, because when you’re living it, ARFID can feel unbeliev...

In this episode of Full of Beans, Hannah is joined by Sarah Woodruff, mum to Grace and 1/3 of the podcast 3Mums1MissionARFID . Sarah co-created the podcast after feeling deeply isolated navigating her daughter’s eating difficulties, wanting to create a space where parents could hear stories that reflected their own and feel less alone. In this conversation, Sarah shares Grace’s journey in more dep...

In this week's episode, Han is joined by Michelle Jacques. Michelle is a devoted mum of two who has lived with ARFID since her son started weaning. Through her own experience of supporting her son with ARFID, she has become a passionate advocate, working tirelessly to raise awareness and support others navigating life with this complex food intake disorder. She is the founder of @arfid_life_uk, wh...

Kel O’Neill is a UK-based counsellor, educator, researcher, and lived-experience advocate specialising in eating disorders. She is the founder of Mental Health Bites, creator of The Eating Disorder Recovery Companion, and the curator of VOXED – Voices of Experience in Eating Disorders. Kel’s work focuses on ethical, trauma-informed practice, challenging stigma, and bridging the gap between lived e...