Eating disorders don’t exist in isolation—they are deeply connected to relationships. From the “why” behind disordered eating and movement patterns to the healing process, relationships have the power to either support or harm recovery. In today’s episode of The Appetite, Opal’s Co-Founder & Clinical Director, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, sits down with therapist Nikki Wolf, LMHCA, to explore the role of relationship therapy in eating disorder treatment. They dive into what support people should (and s...
Jun 05, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 138
In this episode, Delancey and Makaila wrestle with the gaze of others as their bodies change in eating disorder recovery. Off the mark, well-intentioned comments from others leave them flooded with shame and confusion. Delancey wishes others would not perceive her while Makaila is in conflict, on one hand desiring to be "fetishized" and on the other hand, not wanting to be objectified at all. Opal Co-Founders, Lexi Giblin, PhD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, join Delancey and Makaila in drumming up the mo...
May 22, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 137
Join us for a trip down psychedelic lane! Temple Morris, LCSW-C and Dr. Brian Pilecki, PhD throw down their expertise in conversation with Opal Co-Founders, Kara Bazzi, LMFT and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD. Temple and Brian put to words what is often experienced as “beyond language” and help us understand the potential therapeutic value of psychedelics in “clarifying what matters” and fostering psychological flexibility. To name just a few of the topics we cover, we touch on qualities of the psychedeli...
Apr 01, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 136
Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Mary Cain all share something powerful in common: they’ve bravely opened up about their mental health journeys, using their platforms as elite athletes to advocate for change. Their courage is paving the way for a healthier, more supportive sports environment—especially for those facing mental health challenges. On today’s episode of The Appetite, Kara Bazzi, LMFT—co-founder and Clinical Director of Opal’s Exercise+Sport program—chats with Katie Steele, former Divi...
Mar 04, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Phoebe and Asha, friends who are both in eating disorder recovery, join Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin, PhD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT in studio for some self-inquiry action. It is Phoebe's last day in higher level of care and she wonders about her guilt related to nostalgia for her time in eating disorder treatment. Phoebe says treatment has been one of the "most connecting experiences of my life" and opens to exploration about her longing for her treatment days. Asha feels embarrassed for the high anx...
Dec 27, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 134
"Even within the male-centric model, women have accomplished incredible feats of athleticism, smashing long-held beliefs about what women can or cannot achieve. Imagine what would happen if everyone had access to better information and guidance.” These are the words of Christine Yu, in the introduction of her book “Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes”. In this episode of The Appetite, Opal’s Director of Exercise+Sport and Co Founder, Kara Bazzi, LMFT talks with Christine ab...
Aug 29, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Dr. Lisa Erlanger returns to the podcast for a conversation with Julie Church, RDN, CD on GLP-1 agonists, medications widely prescribed for weight loss. Through a weight-inclusive lens, Lisa explains GLP-1 agonists history, current use, and side effects with a special attention given to the unique considerations for individuals with current or past eating disorders. Spoiler alert--- these medications are not game changers, bodies still need food and nourishment to thrive! Despite what the shiny ...
Jul 23, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 132
Human stories are a powerful force in influencing the way we see the world and how we can expand or shift our perspective on any given subject matter. Rosalie Fish, a collegiate athlete and activist, has just that- an impactful story as a Native American distance runner who has used her sport to enact social change. Listen in as Kara Bazzi, LMFT, Opal’s Co-Founder and Clinical Director, and Rosalie talk about how Rosalie’s cultural identity has shaped her experiences as an athlete- from advocacy...
Jun 13, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Aleta Storch, MS, RDN, LMHC joins Julie Church, RDN to discuss how ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) can lead to different feeding and eating challenges. Her personal story highlights the benefit of understanding how the brain works for everyone, especially those desiring to heal from disordered eating and eating disorders. Listen in for a sneak peek of a few practical tips from her model of care for ADHDers and expect this episode to give you a full dose of information about the b...
May 13, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 130
Dr. Lisa Erlanger joins Opal's Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN to share the evidence and compassion that led her to evolve into a weight-inclusive physician. Lisa explains how the body is impacted by dieting (aka starvation) and emphasizes the importance of adequate nourishment as a strong focus of weight-inclusive health care practices within eating disorder treatment and beyond. She even gives some quick tips on how to help medical providers get out of their weight-centric trance and prov...
Apr 05, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 129
Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, Opal Co-Founders, sit down with Poppy and Lily to do a self-inquiry double click on these two particular experiences of shame management. Poppy shares an encounter with shame and disgust where her response is to “mask everything and puff up” while wanting her “old body back.” A “deep, profound worthlessness” prompts an urge for Lily to work hard to be likable, meet others' expectations, and “shrink” herself, not just physically. The group does their sel...
Feb 16, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 128
Fitness, movement and sport spaces continue to be saturated with diet culture rhetoric and belief systems that disrupt our innate connection, wisdom and joy to movement and our bodies. Diet culture is rooted in social justice issues where movement and sport spaces are not inclusive of all bodies and walks of life, particularly those who are most marginalized. Yet the story doesn’t stop here. More and more folks are recognizing the harmful messaging and practices and are doing it differently! Men...
Jan 11, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 127
Maddie Louder, Miss Washington 2021, joins Julie Church, Opal's Nutrition Director, to share her personal experience of how participating in pageants was both empowering and detrimental for her relationship with food and body. Maddie shares how advocacy work through the Miss Washington platform was important for her eating disorder recovery journey and also unpacks how the crowns and glitter of achievement culture can have its downfalls. Maddie's experience highlights the limitations of the "all...
Dec 05, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 126
If you are new to self-inquiry, start here!! This is your go-to episode when you need a quick self-inquiry tutorial, refresher or a little help coaxing you into the self-inquiry mood. Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, orients you to the key components and process of self-inquiry. With these basics in hand, you can more fully take in The Appetite's Self-Inquiry series and possibly begin your own self-inquiry journey. For a deeper dive, go to Episode # 18 Emotion and Learning: The Self-Inquiry Process in Radi...
Sep 08, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 125
Take a deep breath and bend your ears towards Cozette and Marrow as they bravely explore the psychological forces at play in their eating disorder recoveries. Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, Opal Co-Founders, join Cozette and Marrow in their quest to use self-inquiry to learn from unwanted emotion. Shame is a starting point for both self-inquirers but the learning takes them to different places. Cozette grapples with urges to restrict food despite her motivation to recover, while Marr...
Sep 08, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 124
Feeding and eating is a realm of family life that changes as kids get older, which is easy for some parents and more difficult for others. What does empowerment and leadership look like as teens eat more socially and have more time away from the home? How can parents be a healthy part of a teen's relationship with food? In this episode two of Opal's Co-Founders, Julie Church, RDN, CD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS offer invitations for parents to trust, talk and support their teens, using some of El...
Jul 07, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 123
And the Self Inquiry Series is off and running! In this first self-inquiry episode, Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD opens by giving us the 411 on RO DBT's self-inquiry process and then we turn to Sally and Andrea's live self-inquiry. Kara Bazzi, Opal Co-Founder, and the group pose questions to try to open up new learning for Sally and Andrea. Sally struggles with parenting guilt and wanting to do it "right". Andrea wants to be a "good daughter". Listen in on how their distress gets opened up and challenged...
Jun 06, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Has your life become all about setting and achieving goals? When you encounter problems in life, is your solution to do more, work harder, and put another goal in place only to turn around and repeat this cycle when the next problem presents itself? Listen to this episode of The Appetite where Opal Co-Founders, Lexi Giblin, PhD and Kara Bazzi, LMFT discuss how this compulsive striving approach to life can work for you AND against you. With a particular eye on disordered eating and movement, they...
Apr 19, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 121
Listen in as Opal’s Director of the Exercise + Sport program, Kara Bazzi, and Opal’s Movement Coach, Caitlin Jacobsen have a conversation about “Good for a Girl”, a newly released book written by former professional runner, coach and author, Lauren Fleshman. "Good for A Girl" is a memoir (and part manifesto) which follows Lauren's distance running career to the upper echelons of elite levels of sport performance. Although the elite distance running world is exclusionary, and centers the white, t...
Mar 02, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 120
We are launching a new Self-Inquiry Series, within The Appetite podcast, where we will take the style of Opal’s Self-Inquiry Group to the podcast airways. We are looking for folks interested in doing private journal self-inquiry work followed by receiving questions from the podcast group - just like in Opal’s Self-Inquiry Group (but recorded). Participants can call in to the show or join us at the studio in Seattle. The Appetite will take measures to protect your identity, including using an ali...
Feb 07, 2023•6 min•Season 1Ep. 119
"My story is a running journey, but at its heart, it's a story for anyone who has experienced the harm and powerlessness that comes from not fitting into society's expectations, anyone who has ever existed in the margins. It is a story of finding and creating your place and space." Listen into this episode of The Appetite where Alison Mariella Désir- runner, activist, disruptor- reflects and expands on parts of her powerful, newly released book, Running While Black. Kara Bazzi, LMFT, Director of...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 118
Connie Sobczak of The Body Positive gives us this wise nugget: "Aging is something we get to do, if we are lucky." Julie Church, Opal's Co-Founder and Nutrition Director, discusses with Connie the many considerations that arise as we age, covering the topics of appearance, body image, health, and self-care. Listen here for invitations to gratitude, non-judgement, and consciousness that can start at any stage of life and help ease one into the gift of aging. Connie shares openly about how she per...
Nov 28, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 117
Are you a "perfectionist" who is exhausted and tired of hustling for your worth? Or perhaps you have entered perfectionism recovery but remain in a long term battle with compulsive perfectionistic striving? Either way, this podcast is just the ticket for you! Take a listen to Lexi Giblin, PhD, Maggie Ritnour, LMHC, LCAT, ATR-BC, RYT, CEDS and Noni Vaughn-Pollard, NDTR, MHC-LP chat about the difference between perfectionism and excellence, the importance of celebrating achievements, and shame as ...
Sep 12, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 116
Part 3 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World" Episode 3: Power of Sharing Your Recovery Journey-- Most people who struggle with disordered eating or an eating disorder grapple with how much and to whom they share their struggle with. Amelia Boone, a world class obstacle racer and ultrarunner, is no exception. Amelia talks about her “why” of sharing vulnerably and openly about her recovery journey with an eating disorder to her social media community. Listen as Kara Bazzi...
May 24, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 115
Part 2 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World" Episode 2: Power of Writing-- Diet culture messages pervade all media- from advertisements, to magazines, to Instagram and TikTok. It’s no exception in the sport world- harmful, antiquated messages pop up everywhere that perpetuate disordered eating and body image distress. These harmful messages promote a particular athlete body ideal, overemphasizing the connection between weight and performance. Elizabeth Carey, author, wr...
Apr 19, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Part 1 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World" Episode 1: Power of Coaches-- The "win at all costs" sport culture needs to retire and be replaced by the "whole person athlete" culture. In this episode of The Appetite, Opal co-founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi, talks with two coaches who are doing just that-- actively working towards the "whole person athlete" sport culture. Listen as Marie Davis Markham and Robyn McGillis share their story as coaches who developed ...
Apr 01, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 113
We're excited to bring you our conversation with Christy Harrison MPH, RD, CEDRD author of Anti-Diet and host of the Food Psych podcast. Many of you might know of Christy's work, but might not know what led her to shift her career from working as a journalist reporting on food sustainability to becoming an anti-diet dietitian, author, and host. She breaks down her personal journey with food and eating disorder recovery and how it ultimately led her to write Anti-Diet , a culmination of her resea...
May 06, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 112
"Food is fuel". " You are a machine". "You look fit". "You are what you eat". These are all messages about food and our bodies that are commonplace, yet born out of diet culture. Opal Co-Founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi talks with dietitian and endurance athlete Maria Dalzot, RD about how these messages are falling short and not supporting our athletes well-being and performance. In this episode, Maria passionately offers important alternatives to the cultural messages, informed by Intui...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 111
You will be happy to bend your ear (maybe again) for this one! Julie Church, RDN and Carter Umhau, LMHC talk with Erin Harrop (now doctor Erin Harrop, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Denver) about healthism, the use of the word "fat," fat liberation and intersectionality. Dr. Harrop shares their personal experience to spotlight problems with the over-focus on weight in eating disorder treatment. The Appetite crew released this interview 3 years ago and it is even more relevant to o...
Feb 26, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 110
If you haven't heard about or tuned into the Netflix docuseries, MOVE, now's the time! MOVE takes you through the lived experiences of dancers around the globe, and offers a visceral experience of movement that brings transformation and healing- both individually and collectively. These dancers are not motivated to lose weight or change their bodies- their dancing is about passion, healing, emoting and liberating from oppression. The series does a brilliant job of addressing social identities su...
Dec 30, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 108
