#69: Healing In Spite of Yourself & Raising Kids Who Trust Their Bodies with Dr. Rachel Millner, Eating Disorder Psychologist & Fat Activist

The amazing and brilliant Dr. Rachel Millner is on the pod to talk about what's on her plate (literally, and figuratively!), her own journey with an eating disorder as a clinician, and to share wisdom and insights into parenting in our thin-obsessed culture. We also get into the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelnes and how they will harm the mental and physical health of this generation of children, as well as future generations. 

Topics discussed:

• Raising children from a HAES / weigh-inclusive perspective
• Weight stigma in childhood from parents and doctors
• Rachel’s relationship with food growing up, and how it differed from her siblings
• Growing up without body trust
• “Atypical anorexia” as a diagnosis of weight bias and anti-fatness
• The harm of complimenting weight-loss
• Knowing you have an eating disorder and not wanting to recover
• What it takes to recover when you don’t feel committed to healing
• The AAP guidelines on higher weight children, and the damage it will do to the health and wellbeing of kids
• Marginalized communities, anti-fatness, and anti-blackness
• Fighting back against weight stigma in the doctor’s office
• Dealing with diet culture in schools and with teachers
• Addressing your own anti-fat bias on the path to healing

 

Rachel Millner, Psy.D. (she/her) is a psychologist, supervisor, and fat activist in private practice in Pennsylvania. Rachel has been working with those with eating disorders, disordered eating, and those wanting to heal their relationship with food and body since 2005. Rachel provides fat positive therapy that is rooted in social justice, body trust (r), and fat liberation.  In addition to her clinical work, Rachel frequently gives talks on topics such as eating disorders in higher weight people, providers struggling with eating disorders, and providing fat positive therapy. Rachel has been interviewed for numerous publications about eating disorders and has been interviewed on many podcasts about her work. More on Rachel: https://www.rachelmillnertherapy.com/

 

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