Food Psych #256: How Trauma and Shame Affect Our Relationships with Food and the Body with Judith Matz & Amy Pershing

Photographer: Khali MacIntyre

Introduction & Guest Bio:

Anti-diet therapists and authors Judith Matz and Amy Pershing return to the podcast to discuss their latest project, The Body Positivity Card Deck; how trauma and shame affect our relationships with food and the body; intersectionality in body-acceptance work; the role of self-compassion in eating-disorder recovery; and so much more. Plus, in Ask Food Psych, Christy answers a listener question about whether a particular fad diet is misusing the term “intuitive eating.” 

Judith Matz, LCSW is a therapist, author and nationally recognized speaker on the topics of diet culture, binge eating, emotional eating, body image, and weight stigma. She is co-author of The Diet Survivor's Handbook and Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and the author of Amanda's Big Dream. Her work has been featured in the media including NPR, The New York Times, and Psychotherapy Networker. Judith has a private practice in Skokie. She recently co-authored The Body Positivity Card Deck (PESI, 2020). Find her online at JudithMatz.com.

Amy Pershing LMSW, ACSW, CCTP-II is the Founding Director of Bodywise Binge Eating Disorder Treatment Program, and the Clinical Director of the Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor. She is also the creator of Hungerwise™, an online 9-week program for ending chronic dieting and weight cycling.

Based on 30 years of clinical experience, Amy has pioneered a powerful treatment approach for binge eating that incorporates Internal Family Systems theory and the latest somatic techniques for healing trauma. Amy's treatment program also integrates a non-diet “attuned eating and movement" approach and a Health At Every Size philosophy.

Pershing lectures internationally and writes extensively on the treatment of BED and her own recovery journey for both professional and lay communities. She has been featured on radio, podcast, and television speaking about BED treatment and recovery, relapse prevention, weight stigma, and attuned eating and movement. She is the winner of BEDA’s 2016 Pioneer in Clinical Advocacy award, and has served on a variety of professional boards. She is the Past Chair of the Binge Eating Disorder Association, and the author of the book Binge Eating Disorder: The Journey to Recovery and Beyond (Routledge, 2018). Amy maintains a clinical practice treating binge eating disorder both virtually and in Ann Arbor. Find her online at TheBodyWiseProgram.com.

We Discuss:

  • What Judith and Amy have been up to since their previous appearances on Food Psych®

  • Helping professionals’ interest in anti-diet work professionally and personally

  • How Judith and Amy’s work has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Eating-disorder treatment from a trauma-informed lens

  • Judith and Amy’s latest project, The Body Positivity Card Deck (Amazon) (PESI - Use the code POSITIVITY20 for 20% off and free shipping within USA)

  • The four categories in the card deck: self compassion, body image, mindfulness, and self-care

  • What they hope people will gain from using the card deck

  • Internal and external triggers of trauma and weight stigma

  • Their choice to use the term “body positivity”

  • Titling books and the publishing industry, and how Christy chose the title and subtitle for her book, Anti-Diet

  • Intersectionality in body acceptance

  • Aging, and its interaction with different identities

  • The process of reclaiming our lives from diet culture

  • Emotional eating vs deprivation-driven eating

  • Shame, trauma, and how they can influence our relationships with our body

  • Self-compassion, and its role in healing from trauma and disordered eating

  • Fatphobia in the trauma recovery field

  • Problematic narratives around trauma and weight

Resources Mentioned

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Ask Food Psych

Listener Question:

“There seems to be a spectrum in what is considered ‘intuitive eating.’ Is this a term that has many different meanings, or is it one that has been hijacked by diet culture?”—Jason

We Discuss: 

  • How and why the diet and wellness industry has co-opted terms like “intuitive eating” and “anti-diet”

  • Details of the research that a certain app uses to “prove” its effectiveness

  • The four hallmarks of diet culture

  • The evidence behind why diets don’t work

  • What intuitive eating is and isn’t

Resources Mentioned: 

 
Christy HarrisonTrauma, COVID-19, eating disorders, eating-disorder recovery, body positivity, self compassion, body image, mindfulness, self care, intersectionality, body acceptance, aging, diet culture, emotional eating, deprivation, shame, fatphobia, weight stigma, trauma-informed, disordered eating, intuitive eating, diet industry, wellness industry, anti-diet, S820