“Self-care” is practically a buzzword these days as more people embrace the importance of creating space for self-restoration. But what does “self-care” look like beyond bubble baths and treating yourself? Sibel Golden, PhD--psychotherapist and eating disorder specialist in private practice and Executive Director of the Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute--sits down to talk with host Carter Umhau, LMHC about building a self-care practice that reflects both your needs and y...
Apr 10, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Are you good at doing absolutely nothing at all? In mainstream American culture, the values of productivity and accomplishment can be so front and center that the need for rest and play can take the backseat or—worse—be deemed useless. Opal Co-Founders Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, CD sit down with host Carter Umhau, LMHC for a roundtable conversation around the “art of non-productivity.” The concept, a key tenet of Radically Open DBT (a therap...
Apr 04, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 45
The ever-popular Whole30 and Paleo diets are often described as a “lifestyle change” or even a “return to the basics.” Though they’re packaged differently than the diets of yore (like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or Atkins, to name a few), the restrictive mentality and the long term ineffectiveness remains the same as any other diet. In this episode, Opal Dietitian Kelly Finan, MS, RDN talks with host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explain the key principles behind Whole30 and Paleo, and debunk the myth...
Mar 27, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 44
What does it look like to get un-stuck? Dr. Amy Burns, MD shares her expertise in Motivational Interviewing and explains how this person-centered approach to behavior change embraces the ambivalence so often thought to be in the way of growth. Opal Co-Founder Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS offers her own struggles with making a change in her life while Dr. Burns playfully interacts with her in an on-air example of the Motivational Interviewing technique! Connect with Opal: www.opalfoodandbody.com Fa...
Mar 20, 2019•32 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Have you considered how a deepening connection to your body’s desire for food may impact your body’s sexual appetites as well? Longtime Opal therapist Tahney Jones, LMHC, CEDS joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and host Carter Umhau, LMHC in an exploratory conversation around the intersection of recovery from disordered eating and sex. (P.S. Though this conversation could feel applicable to all, we’re aware that it centers around a cis female perspective.) Girls and Sex book by Peggy Orenstein http://...
Mar 14, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Can you really control your weight? Diet culture certainly says you can, but in this episode Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CD, CEDS sits down with host Carter Umhau, LMHC to challenge this, highlighting the real cost of weight loss. Julie explains “set point theory” as a new way to understand our bodies’ protective responses to weight loss, introducing an element of mystery into what’s often widely categorized as merely an issue of willpower....
Mar 07, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In a culture that moralizes exercise and reveres star athletes, avoiding exercise can elicit discomfort (at best) and at worst, can induce loads of personal shame. In this episode, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS (Opal’s Co-Founder and head of the Exercise + Sport Program) and host Carter Umhau, LMHC will explore why people find themselves avoiding exercise and the barriers in moving towards a relationship of trust and attunement with movement and sport. Practical tools will be offered for listeners to b...
Feb 27, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 40
When you come to terms with the fact that diets just don’t work, what comes next? Listen to your hunger and fullness! In this episode, Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, CD talks with host Carter Umhau, LMHC about what it looks like to eat from a place of attunement, rather than the rules and structures of one diet or another. Julie and Carter will walk through how to identify the cues of hunger and fullness, and how attunement in and of itself can ask you to stay a...
Feb 21, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Love is in the air! Embrace new ways of thinking about the different kinds of love in your life by joining Opal’s “love tour.” All three of Opal’s Co-Founders--Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS--join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explore “irrationally crazy love,” “limerence,” “radically open kindness,” and “amae"--terms for love that show up in all kinds of relationships, even beyond the romantic.
Feb 13, 2019•29 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Envy shows up in all kinds of relationships, but how often does it actually make us closer to one another? Host Carter Umhau, LMHC talks with Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS about their envy for one another and explore the ways in which their envy--after it almost created distance--brought them into a deeper relationship as business partners and friends. Plus, Lexi brings in her Radically Open DBT expertise to lay out the differences between helpful versus ...
Feb 07, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Virginia Sole-Smith--author of The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America and co-host of the Comfort Food podcast--joins host Carter Umhau, LMHC to share the story of how the feeding issues that arose for her newborn daughter inspired a new way of thinking about body trust and the diet industry in America. Virginia and Carter talk body image, parenting, feminism, and what it means to relearn your own “eating instinct.” The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Gui...
Jan 30, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 36
How can perfectionism and the avoidance of failure be keeping you from living out your values and desires? Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Carter Umhau, LMHC draw from experiences in their own lives (basketball and writing, respectively) to explore the differences between perfectionism and excellence, and how to embrace mistakes as a means of learning. In sharing both their own stories and their expertise as therapists, Kara and Carter offer an alternative way of being in relationship...
Jan 18, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Former collegiate and professional football player Patrick Devenny joins us again for the second of two episodes, expanding on his eating disorder recovery story and sharing the identity crisis that ensued upon leaving professional athletics. Patrick joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS (Opal’s Co-founder, Clinical Director, and head of the Sport+Exercise Program) in this laid-back conversation around how issues of identity are impacted at the intersection of sport, masculinity, and eating disorders. Li...
Jan 11, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Have you ever considered that maybe your unprocessed grief could be keeping you from the transformations you’re desiring in your life? Opal Co-Founders Julie Church, RD,CD, CEDRD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Lexi Giblin, PhD., CEDS join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to explore the necessity of grief and how mainstream American culture often doesn’t hold space for rituals and rights around the grief we all hold. Listen in for Lexi’s story about a recent grief ritual she participated in, and dietitian Ju...
Jan 04, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Easter egg hunts and Easter baskets bring similar amounts of candy into the home. So if you missed this episode in the fall, you might find it useful now! Halloween is on its way and there’s likely candy everywhere...and that’s not a bad thing! This episode is certainly for adults who feel like you don’t have enough “willpower” when you’re suddenly around candy, but also for parents, struggling to figure out what attitude they should have when letting their kids have candy. Opal Co-Founder Julie...
Jan 04, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 25
What does it look like for two middle-school-aged girls to have been parented by eating disorder specialists? Opal Co-Founders Kara and Lexi talk about parenting around food and body image concerns. Plus their daughters Ila and Sophia join host Carter Umhau, LMHC to dish out the wisdom!
Jan 04, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Does weight really matter when it comes to sport performance? Host Carter Umhau, LMHC, and Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS explore culture around food and body within the sport world, and the idealization of the athlete. Kara, Clinical Director and former division I collegiate distance runner, shares her own experience with an eating disorder, and we bring in dietitian Kelly Finan, RDN with the hard science to break some myths around the importance of low weight in sport performance. Links: Lane 9, a res...
Jan 04, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Former professional football player Patrick Devenny joins Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT to share his eating disorder recovery story. He offers his perspective on the unique challenges that men--particularly male athletes--face in seeking and receiving care for food and body-related issues. In this first of two episodes, Patrick--an advocate for eating disorder awareness--talks gym culture, why he used to think therapy was "woo woo," and how he moved from keto diets and counting macros to full...
Jan 04, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Holiday festivities, time with family, and a change in routine often inspire a diet or “lifestyle change” immediately following. May we suggest that you consider NOT starting a diet this new year? In this episode, Opal's Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN and host Carter Umhau, LMHC discuss the negative physical and psychological ramifications of diet-mentality, how the diet industry has been rebranded as "wellness," and why eating a lot of the foods you like doesn't make you "bad." Opal: Food...
Dec 20, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 33
It’s possible that the punishment you inflict on yourself may be preventing you from healthy, happy relationships. In this episode Opal Co-Founder Dr. Lexi Giblin explores why self-punishment can actually be selfish. Plus, Lexi and host Carter Umhau, LMHC offer an alternative—self-forgiveness—which may bring you closer to those around you.
Dec 15, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this second of a two-part series, this episode will literally take you inside the dressing room and in front of the mirror with The Appetite. Exploring self-expression and her identity through style, host Carter Umhau, LMHC gets led through a styling session at Armoire--a Seattle fashion rental startup. Opal Co-Founder Lexi Giblin, PhD shares her thoughts on the psychology of clothing, while Armoire CEO Ambika Singh and stylist Marie-Caroline Moir share their philosophy on using clothes as a ...
Dec 05, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 30
What would you wear if you were more concerned with self-expression than you were about something “flattering” or “thinning”? Drawing from her experiences doing “retail therapy” outings with clients, Dr. Lexi Giblin describes the psychology of clothing beyond thin-optics. Host Carter Umhau, LMHC chimes in about past body image concerns and her own struggle to define a style congruent with her sense of self. #theselfacceptancerevolution #haes #healthateverysize #eatingdisorderrecovery #allfoodsfi...
Nov 28, 2018•34 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Mark Canlis, third generation co-owner of Canlis, a Seattle fine dining institution, Relais & Chateau property, and James Beard award winning restaurant--joins Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Julie Church, RD, CD, CEDRD, and host Carter Umhau, LMHC around the table, to share stories in the spirit of Thanksgiving. As the women of the Appetite bring their clinical expertise and compassion for those struggling around issues of food, dieting, and body image, Mark shares the poetic landscape of the resta...
Nov 21, 2018•39 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In Part 1: Good Grief, we discussed processing grief through ritual and how grief is part of our relationships with food and body. For Part 2, Clinical Director and Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi and Primary Therapist and host of The Appetite Carter Umhau talk with Arlene Thomas about her story of profound loss and how she was able to integrate her own experiences into her work as a therapist and to transform her life and relationships.
Nov 09, 2018•36 min•Season 1Ep. 27
What does your fear tell you about the particularity of your values or desires? Dr. Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS talks with host, Carter Umhau, LMHCA about the role of fear in personal growth. Lexi and Carter discuss the Facing Fears therapy group at Opal and why risk-taking matters. Connect with us: theappetite@opalfoodandbody.com www.OpalFoodandBody.com www.facebook.com/Opal https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody...
Aug 17, 2018•29 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this mini episode, host Carter Umhau, LMHCA--therapist, artist, and writer-- explains the story behind naming The Appetite. Citing a revelation from The Minnesota Starvation Experiment around the differences between hunger and appetite, Carter speaks to how tuning into the specificity of one's appetite translates to a greater appetite for other areas of life. Links and Resources: www.refinery29.com/minnesota-starvation-experiment https://archive.org/stream/MenAndHunger#page/n1 Connect with us...
Aug 01, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Today's episode features the story of Sarah Taylor--The Appetite's behind-the-scenes magic-maker! Sarah talks with host Carter Umhau, MA, LMHCA, and explores the story of her own recovery from an eating disorder, sharing about her experiences in treatment and the deeper healing that happened after-the-fact. Considering that every recovery story is so different, Sarah gracefully shares the ways that her own struggles with her body eventually lead her into a life postured toward advocacy for all b...
Jul 19, 2018•41 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Regular listener Tam O’Donnell joins us to respond to a previous episode, “How to Eat in a Food-Obsessed World.” Tam brings questions and wonderings around how to provide both structure and freedom for kids around food, and asks the crucial and vulnerable question of, “Can I really trust my body?” The Opal team, including Julie Church, RDN, CEDS, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Carter Umhau, LMHCA, respond with nutrition science, words of wisdom, and questions that beget more questions. Links and Re...
Jul 04, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Would you engage yourself differently if you assumed that all the emotions you experienced had something to teach you? Today, Opal: Food+Body Wisdom’s Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS, and Carter Umhau, MA, LMHCA explore the process of “self-inquiry”--a key tool in Radically Open DBT. Self-inquiry is all about seeking growth rather than trying to fix one’s shortcomings. In this episode, Lexi will lean into the strength of her own vulnerability in order to model the process of self-inquiry in action! Links...
Jun 20, 2018•35 min•Season 1Ep. 19
It's common to hear messages in the sports world like "More is better!" "No pain, no gain!" or "Keep pushing!" Sports Psychologist Riley Nickols,PhD, Director of The Victory Program at McCallum Place, joins Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS to explore the athletic identity and how widespread ways of thinking about performance as an athlete may also translate into other areas of an athlete's life and self-identity. Bazzi and Nickols explore how these postures are reflected in an athlete's re...
Jun 06, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 17
