This week, we’re diving into the topic of body image issues and disordered eating, something I’ve been looking to cover for some time now and an important topic for ALL parents, but with some special considerations for parents raising differently wired kids. For this discussion, I’ve brought on Zoë Bisbing and Leslie Bloch, both psychotherapists based in New York City specializing in the early detection and family-based treatment of childhood and adolescent eating disorders, and the creators of the Full Bloom Project—a research-informed body-positive parenting resource, with the mission to teach parents how to transform their home environment into a place where children can naturally boost immunity to our appearance-obsessed culture, so they can thrive; or in other words, “fully bloom.”
We cover a lot of ground in our conversation, talking about what body-positive parenting means, the particular challenges for parents of atypical kids when it comes to body and eating issues, how the latest research can inform parents to help their children develop positive relationships with their bodies and food, and much, much more.
About Zoë and Leslie: Zoë Bisbing, LCSW and Leslie Bloch, LCSW-R are both adolescent eating disorder psychotherapists based in New York City and mothers of two. They met in graduate school at New York University and, over countless coffee dates, quickly discovered a shared dedication to the treatment of eating disorders and body image concerns. Their lives unfolded on uncannily similar paths; they worked together at a treatment center in New York after graduation and sat for their clinical licensing exams the same week, both nine-months pregnant. While their families and private practices blossomed, they both developed specialties in the early detection and family-based treatment of childhood and adolescent eating disorders.
In 2018, Zoë and Leslie were inspired by their mutual dream of preventing the eating disorders that they help parents and kids fight every day. They founded the Full Bloom Project in order to bring insights from the prevention research in an accessible way to body-positive parents and providers everywhere. Together they host the weekly Full Bloom Podcast, create online resources for body-positive parenting, and speak to groups of parents and professionals about how to help young people develop positive relationships with their bodies.
They have presented at conferences for the National Hemophilia Foundation, at Nike Headquarters in Portland, and at independent schools across New York City.
THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- What is meant by body-positive parenting and why it is needed
- What the current cultural landscape is like regarding eating disorders and body image
- What factors make a child more vulnerable to having negative body image
- The unique challenges faced by parents of differently wired kids related to body image and eating, especially surrounding energy imbalances, medications, and extreme picky eating
- What “division of responsibility” refers to when it comes to family food culture
- How to create a family culture of body positivity and help children to have reverence, dignity, and respect for their bodies
- The importance of self-compassion while doing our own work as parents around body and eating issues
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- A to Z Guide to Body Positive Parenting 15% discount code for podcast listeners: FULLBLOOM20
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