Food Psych #198: Preventing Disordered Eating in the Next Generation with Lauren Muhlheim, Psychologist and Eating-Disorder Specialist
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Eating-disorders psychologist Lauren Muhlheim joins us to discuss how we can model a peaceful relationship with food for the kids in our lives, the problem with “childhood obesity” interventions, how some eating-disorder-treatment methods are being co-opted for weight loss, the rise of orthorexia, weight bias in medicine and the eating-disorders field, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about the Biggest Loser reboot and shares the official description that will be on the book jacket of her upcoming book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating.
Lauren Muhlheim, Psy.D., FAED, CEDS is a psychologist, certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS), and IAEDP (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals) - approved supervisor who provides evidence-based treatment for eating disorders in the outpatient setting. She directs Eating Disorder Therapy LA in Los Angeles and is able to provide teletherapy in California and New York. She provides cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for adults and family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescents and adheres to Health at Every Size® principles. She is certified in FBT by the Training Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders.
Dr. Muhlheim is the author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Overcome Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating, published by New Harbinger Publications in September, 2018. This book is an FBT-based book for parents who are helping adolescents with eating disorders.
Dr. Muhlheim is active in several professional organizations. Dr Muhlheim is the Eating Disorders Expert for Verywell (formerly About.com) and is Clinical Director of the Eating Disorder Information website, Mirror-Mirror Eating Disorders. She presents nationally to parents, professionals, and trainees. She is active on social media and in eating disorder advocacy efforts. Find her online at EatingDisorderTherapyLA.com
Christy’s upcoming book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! Be one of the first to get a copy of the book and help spread the anti-diet message to more people when you pre-order at christyharrison.com/book.
We Discuss:
The lineage of dieting in Lauren’s family
Her different experiences with dieting
What helped her overcome dieting and disordered eating
What motivated her to become an eating-disorders psychologist
Psychodynamic therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
Enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders (CBT-E)
How CBT is often co-opted for weight loss
Adopting a weight-inclusive approach in the weight-centric healthcare field
Lauren’s different roles throughout her career as a psychologist, including starting the Shanghai International Mental Health Association
Family-based treatment (FBT)
Weight bias and diet mentality in the eating-disorders field
Goal weights in eating-disorder recovery, and the problem with setting them too low
Parents gaining weight and recovering from diet culture when helping their child recover from an eating disorder
Why diagnostic criteria for eating disorders can be problematic
Orthorexia, and how our culture has contributed to its development as an eating disorder
Health At Every Size as a treatment framework for eating-disorder recovery
How parents, especially those who are in eating-disorder recovery, can model a more peaceful relationship with food for their children
Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility (DoR)
Why DoR doesn’t work for kids with eating disorders
Early signs of disordered eating in children
FBT as an early intervention for disordered eating in kids
How eating disorders are often missed in sports and healthcare
The problem with “childhood obesity” interventions
Lauren’s book, When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Overcome Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating
Resources Mentioned
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Submit your questions for a chance to have them answered on the podcast!
My online course, Intuitive Eating Fundamentals
Help spread the anti-diet message by subscribing to the podcast
Terry Wilson’s work
Food Psych episode #190, with listener question on binge-eating treatment
Developmental Premorbid Body Mass Index Trajectories of Adolescents with Eating Disorders in a Longitudinal Population Cohort (CW: specific numbers, eating disorders mentioned)
Cynthia (Cindy) Bulik’s work
Body of Truth by Harriet Brown (CW: specific numbers, dieting behaviors, o-words)
Brave Girl Eating by Harriet Brown (CW: specific numbers, dieting/eating-disorder behaviors)
What is Orthorexia Nervosa? (Article by Lauren on orthorexia)
Christy’s slides from HAES® vs. weight management debate at FNCE 2018
Ellyn Satter’s work (CW: some fatphobic language on website)
Can FBT Strategies be used for Early Eating Disorder Intervention and Prevention? (and co-author Therese Waterhous’ work)
Say NO to Starving Teens: Stop the Fast Track Trial (Petition by Louise Adams, and her Food Psych episode)
Lauren’s book, When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Overcome Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating
Christy’s upcoming book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! Be one of the first to get a copy of the book when you pre-order at christyharrison.com/book.
Listener Question of the Week
What is Christy and the Health At Every Size community saying about the return of The Biggest Loser? What were some of the harmful outcomes of the show? How does The Biggest Loser uphold The Wellness Diet? What makes The Wellness Diet so harmful? Why are there doubts that The Biggest Loser reboot won’t be different from the original version? What are some ways that people can speak out against this show?
(Resources Mentioned:
Persistent Metabolic Adaptation 6 Years After The Biggest Loser Competition (CW: As with all scientific research, specific numbers, o-words and weight-stigmatizing language)
Katherine Nelson, USA Network Press Contact, 212-664-5934, katherine.nelson@nbcuni.com
Joe Schlosser, Endemol Shine Representative, joe.schlosser@endemolshine.us)