Food Psych #263: Update on COVID-19 and Weight, and (Re)claiming Queer, Trans, and Autistic Identities in Eating-Disorder Recovery with Haley Jones

Photographer: Khali MacIntyre

Introduction & Guest Bio:

Anti-diet therapist Haley Jones joins us to discuss how their queer and trans identities affected their relationship with food and body, how autism gave them a different perspective on authority and hierarchical relationships, how fatphobia shows up in training programs for counselors and therapists, being “in recovery” vs. being “recovered,” and so much more. Plus, in “Ask Food Psych,” Christy discusses the state of the science on COVID-19 and weight.

Haley Jones, MS, LPC-intern is a therapist and Certified Body Trust Provider in Portland, Oregon serving queer and trans folx dealing with eating disorders. They work from from an anti-racist, anti-colonial, sex-positive, pro-disability justice, kink positive, fat positive, polyam-friendly, trauma-informed, Health at Every Size®, and strengths-based foundation. As a white, queer, trans & non-binary, neurodivergent, disabled, documented, currently in a smaller body, low-income, first-generation college student & service provider, Haley holds both privileged and oppressed identities. Find them online at TheQueerCounselor.com.

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We Discuss:

  • How Haley’s queer and trans identities affected their relationship with food, body, and movement growing up

  • The moment that they first believed that their body was “wrong”

  • How their queerness compounded their internalized fatphobia

  • The external forces that fed into Haley’s eating disorder

  • What led them to their career as a counselor

  • Haley’s experiences of fatphobia in their counseling training, and the role of community and advocacy in helping them get through it

  • Autism, and how it relates to anti-authority and anti-hierarchy

  • How Haley encourages their clients to question authority and hierarchical relationships

  • The practice of setting boundaries and pushing back

  • The foundations of Haley’s work, and how they apply at the individual and societal levels

  • How capitalism reinforces body hierarchies

  • How to contribute to anti-capitalism efforts while still living in capitalism

  • Being “in recovery” vs. “recovered”

  • Community care and mutual aid

Resources Mentioned

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Ask Food Psych

Listener Question:

“What is the latest in the state of the science on COVID-19 and weight?”

We Discuss: 

  • How current studies do not show a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 for people of higher weight, but questions remain as to outcomes for higher-weight people with COVID-19

  • A review of a recent study on COVID-19 outcomes that controls for various confounding factors, including its findings, limitations, and how it compares to other studies

  • Recent reports that people in larger bodies may be prioritized for vaccinations

  • How diet culture and the weight-loss industry is responding to the research linking COVID-19 and weight

  • Bariatric surgery and COVID-19 outcomes

  • Confounding factors for studies that look at hospitalization rates

  • What to do if you are in a larger body and concerned about COVID-19

Resources Discussed:

 
Christy Harrisonlgbtq, queer, trans, autism, neurodivergent, disabled, disability, weight stigma, fatphobia, eating disorder, education, advocacy, authority, hierarchy, boundaries, social justice, community, capitalism, diet industry, anti-capitalism, eating-disorder recovery, mutual aid, covid-19, pandemic, science, research, weight science, vaccine, bariatric surgery, anti-diet, s820