Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown - Episode 2 - Understanding Anorexia

Listen in as host, clinical psychologist Mark Creamer and co-host Tim Peck, who brings 21 years' experience working with Victoria Police to his current role as Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for Emergency Worker Mental Health, talk with three ‘experts by experience’ in the final episode in this series on supporting the mental health of emergency workers.

You’ll hear first-hand experiences about emergency work in different contexts and roles – from a salaried emergency worker, former Victorian Police Member, and a partner of a volunteer. 

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear reflections from these perspectives - from realising something wasn’t quite right, to experiencing early warning signs, and identifying what helped and what hindered their efforts to seek help. You’ll pick up on similarities and differences in their experiences, due largely to the context of their unique roles in emergency work. 

Emergency Workers: Responder Assist is a podcast series produced in partnership between Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist, Centre for Excellence in Emergency Worker Mental Health and The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN).

Visit the MHPN website for episode host and guest bios, recommended resources and a self-directed CPD form.

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Emergency Workers: Responder Assist, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

Listen in to this third episode as your host, clinical psychologist Mark Creamer and co-host Jane Nursey, a clinical neuropsychologist with 30 years' experience, discuss the importance of considering a range of diagnoses, including PTSD, and the common challenges practitioners may face when treating the mental health of emergency workers.

Hear Professor Andrea Phelps’ insights on treatment approaches; the value behavioral therapies provide alongside evidence-based treatments, and how and why nuanced recovery plans are more likely to achieve better outcomes for recovery. Andrea also chats about moral injury: what is it and how does it impact emergency workers? 

Dr. Tony McHugh, clinical psychologist, joins the conversation to share the health benefits of work, and the negative impact and risks associated with psychological injury in the workplace. 

Liked this episode? Tune into the series final where a panel of experts by experience share their personal recovery journeys, through early warning signs, barriers to treatment, and identifying what they found most helpful. 

Emergency Workers: Responder Assist is a podcast series produced in partnership between Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist, Centre for Excellence in Emergency Worker Mental Health and The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN).

Visit the MHPN website for episode host and guest bios, recommended resources and a self-directed CPD form.

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Emergency Workers: Responder Assist, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM. 

In this episode, your series host Mark Creamer and episode co-host Patricia Watson, Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist consultant and psychologist for the U.S. National Center for PTSD, unpack the importance of supportive leadership and organisational structures that support emergency workers' mental health.

Listen in to be reminded of the value and power of peer support with Neville Goddard, a volunteer firefighter for more than 35 years. He shares how the Victorian Country Fire Authority peer support program works, what training is involved and the program’s positive impacts for emergency workers and their families.

Hear expert insight from general practitioner Maya Edgerton Bachmann, as she shares practical tips to destigmatize help seeking behaviour, the barriers emergency workers often face, and the key role GPs play in advocating for and supporting emergency workers and their families.

Liked this episode? Stay tuned for the third which will be released in early 2023 when Mark Creamer is joined by Andrea Phelps, Deputy Director of Phoenix Australia and Dr Tony McHugh to discuss some of the challenges clinicians might face in supporting emergency workers’ mental health.

Emergency Workers: Responder Assist is a podcast series produced in partnership between Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist, Centre for Excellence in Emergency Worker Mental Health and The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN).

Visit the MHPN website for episode host and guest bios, recommended resources and a self-directed CPD form.

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Emergency Workers: Responder Assist or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

Tune in as your host, clinical psychologist Mark Creamer and co-host Nicole Sadler, clinical psychologist and Director of Responder Assist, set the scene for this four-part series about the mental health of emergency service workers. 

Hear valuable insights from David Lawrence, lead researcher of Beyond Blue’s Answering the Call study - the first Australian national mental health and wellbeing study, that surveyed over 21,000 police and emergency services workers from across the country.

You’ll hear evidence to help understand - why are emergency workers more likely to be at risk of developing mental health concerns? What types of mental health issues can develop and the implications for providers? As well as, how common are these issues, and what are the risk and protective factors?

Liked this episode? Stay tuned for the next episode where Mark Creamer and co-host Patricia Watson, psychologist for the U.S. National Center for PTSD are joined by volunteer firefighter Neville Goddard to discuss the value of peer support, and by General Practitioner Maya Edgerton Bachmann who shares practical tips to destigmatize help seeking behavior. 

Emergency Workers: Responder Assist is a podcast series produced in partnership between Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist, Centre for Excellence in Emergency Worker Mental Health and The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN).

Visit the MHPN website for episode host and guest bios, recommended resources and a self-directed CPD form.

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Emergency Workers: Responder Assist, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

In this four-part series, host Professor Mark Creamer will be joined by expert clinicians, researchers, service providers, emergency workers and partners of emergency workers to discuss experiences and topics unique to this workforce, who provide a vital and valuable service to the community. 

The series will cover how and why the nature of their work can put emergency workers at greater risk of mental health problems, the kinds of problems they might develop, the best models of care, and the common challenges faced by clinicians when providing support.

Brought to you by a partnership between Phoenix Australia’s Responder Assist – the Centre for Excellence in Emergency Worker mental health and the Mental Health Professionals’ Network.  

Subscribe to Mental Health in Focus now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred podcasting platform to be notified when the first episode drops in November 2022. 

This episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown will explore the spectrum of eating behaviours from having a good relationship with food through to disordered eating and eating disorders. Join our co-hosts; psychologist and National Director of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), Dr Beth Shelton; and carer and CEO of Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV), Belinda Caldwell, as they interrogate the question, ‘what is “normal” eating?’

Tune in as Beth and Belinda are joined by Shane Jeffrey, a dietitian working predominantly with people experiencing disordered eating and eating disorders. Their thought-provoking discussion will challenge commonly held beliefs about eating behaviours, the point at which disordered eating behaviours are at risk of becoming an eating disorder, and the difference between dieting and disordered eating.

Shane shares valuable and practical tips for health practitioners to begin a conversation with their clients about food and eating behaviour, and through exploring the link between thoughts, emotions, and eating - how he helps individuals living with an eating disorder re-establish an uncomplicated relationship with eating. In reflecting on the personal experience of eating and bodies for all people, practitioners will learn a structured approach to supporting people experiencing disordered eating or an eating disorder.

Visit the MHPN website to access this episode’s host bios, resources recommended by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration, and a self-directed CPD form.

Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown is a podcast series produced in partnership by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN).

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

This episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown will explore the experience of living with, recovering from, and supporting someone with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. Join our co-hosts; psychologist and National Director of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), Dr Beth Shelton; and carer and CEO of Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV), Belinda Caldwell, as they delve into the factors which underpin these types of eating disorders, and the supports that are available to help someone to recovery.

Listeners will hear Desi’s journey – from living for over 25 years with bulimia, to her recovery. Responding to and building on Desi’s lived experience, Beth and Belinda unpack the key factors associated with bulimia and binge eating such as the underlying cycle of thoughts and behaviours, the hidden nature of eating disorders, and the role of treatment in successfully shifting the harmful cycle that perpetuates the eating disorder. Beth and Belinda explore ways in which a clinician can open up the conversation about eating and bodies to ensure that early identification can occur, and the person experiencing an eating disorder can access the treatment needed and move towards recovery.

Like this episode? Stay tuned for the next episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown as Beth and Belinda are joined by dietitian Shane Jeffrey to explore the spectrum of eating behaviour, from what is considered ‘normal’ eating through to eating disorders.

Visit the MHPN website to access this episode’s host bios, resources recommended by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration, and a self-directed CPD form.

Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown is a podcast series produced in partnership by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN).

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

This episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown will explore restrictive eating and how it relates to, and occurs in anorexia nervosa, atypical anorexia, and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Join our co-hosts; psychologist and National Director of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), Dr Beth Shelton; and carer and CEO of Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV), Belinda Caldwell, as they dive into characterising and differentiating these diagnoses in the context of stigma around weight and shape.

In this episode Beth and Belinda chat with Jess, who has lived the experience of, and recovered from atypical anorexia, and her mother, Julia. Listeners will hear about Jess and Julia’s journey through the healthcare system from diagnosis to treatment and recovery, exploring the similarities and differences between anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia, and the impact that this can have on a person’s experience of an eating disorder and their recovery journey.

Tune in to hear some of the challenges and barriers that individuals with eating disorders may face in their help-seeking efforts, suggestions on how to improve first response by a healthcare professional, and key strategies and approaches that clinicians and practitioners can use to support someone experiencing an eating disorder.

Liked this episode? Stay tuned for the next episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown as Beth and Belinda explore the diagnoses of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, and gain further insight from someone who has recovered from bulimia.

Visit the MHPN website to access this episode’s host bios, resources recommended by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration, and a self-directed CPD form.

Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown is a podcast series produced in partnership by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN).

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

In this inaugural episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown, join our co-hosts; psychologist and National Director of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), Dr Beth Shelton; and carer and CEO of Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV), Belinda Caldwell, in identifying and unpacking commonly held myths surrounding what it’s like to live with, care for, and provide support for someone living with and eating disorder.

Listeners will get to know our hosts and their stories in working with and caring for people living with eating disorders. Beth and Belinda share their insights, expertise, and experiences as they dive into the ‘Hat of Myths,’ one by one addressing common misconceptions and stigma around eating disorders including predisposing factors, the role of families, and prevalence of eating disorders across diagnostic presentation. Leaning on research, clinical expertise, and lived experience, Beth and Belinda explore the implications of these myths and stigmas on both service provision and recovery.

Liked this episode? Stay tuned for the next episode of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown as Beth and Belinda explore eating disorder diagnoses characterised by restrictive eating, as they are joined by a young person with lived experience of atypical anorexia.

Visit the MHPN website to access this episode’s host bios, resources recommended by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration, and a self-directed CPD form.

Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown is a podcast series produced in partnership by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN).

Share your comments, questions and feedback about Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown, or any of MHPN’s podcast series here: bit.ly/37FFMFM.

Welcome to ‘Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown’ – a series brought to you in partnership by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) and the Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN).

In this four-part series you will join Beth Shelton, psychologist and National Director of NEDC, and Belinda Caldwell, mother, carer and CEO of Eating Disorders Victoria, as they combine their insights and experience as service provider and carer to present a united and holistic approach to supporting people who are living with an eating disorder.

The episodes will be released weekly from November 2021. Subscribe to Mental Health In Focus now to access ‘Eating Disorders: Beyond the Unknown’ right from the launch.