
Ep 62: Empowering Black Clients with Eating Disorders, with Charlynn Small and Paula Edwards-Gayfield
Just Eat Normally: Eating Disorder RecoveryShow Notes
A culturally sensitive approach to eating disorder treatment is sorely need for the often underdiagnosed, forgotten, and marginalized Black woman. Not only do they face barriers to treatment due to unjust healthcare systems, but the unique factors that contribute to the development of eating disorders in Black women, including racism and systemic oppression, are not broadly considered by eating disorder clinicians. In this episode I speak with eating disorder experts Charlynn Small and Paula Edwards-Gayfield about their new book Black Women with Eating Disorders: Clinical Treatment Considerations .This episode is aimed at clinicians working with Black clients as-well-as individuals who are seeking support navigating an eating disorder and recovery.
Buy the book: wwnorton.com/bwed
Connect with Rachel Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery. https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/ https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd
Connect with Charlynn Small, PhD. Charlynn is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Director of Health Promotion, at the University of Richmond. She received her PhD from Howard University. Dr. Small is based in North Chesterfield, Virginia.https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlynn-small-65951932/
Connect with Paula Edwards-Gayfield, LCMHCS, LPC, CEDS-C. Paula is regional assistant vice president and diversity an inclusion cochair for The Renfrew Center, with twenty years of experience treating eating disorders. She is based in Edmond, Oklahomhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/pedwards-gayfield/
More from Just Eat Normally: Eating Disorder Recovery
I'm super excited to be speaking with Dr Jennifer Gaudiani, who's book "Sick Enough" I frequently recommend.
Rigid rules can make eating disorder recovery feel impossible when you're living with the overwhelming fear that worst will happen. In this solo episode Dr Rachel Evans explores a fairly simple practice designed to gently loosen all-or-nothing thinking without involving food, weight, or body image.
In this solo episode, Dr. Rachel Evans – chartered psychologist and hypnotherapist specialising in eating disorder recovery – shares two key themes from recent client conversations that offer valuable insights for anyone navigating recovery. Rethinking Control in Eating Disorders Rachel explores the often-cited belief that restrictive eating provides a sense of control. She encourages listeners to reflect on what control really means to them, suggesting that genuine control might actually lie in having choices around food, not in following rigid rules. Challenging Absolute Beliefs or “Truths” From the famous Kate Moss quote to the idea that “nothing hits like a binge,” Rachel discusses how certain ingrained beliefs may feel true but might be worth questioning – especially when they come with negative consequences. She invites listeners to explore the origins of these beliefs and whether they truly serve them.
In this episode of Just Eat Normally, host Dr. Rachel Evans speaks with Becky Grace Irwin, a BABCP-accredited CBT & EMDR therapist, mental health nurse, and specialist in neurodiversity, complex trauma, eating disorders, and ARFID. Becky brings a mix of clinical expertise and lived experience as she shares how childhood environment, sensory processing, autonomy, and developmental factors shape someone’s relationship with food. Together we explore: What ARFID actually is (and what it isn’t)
Important bits: I am running a GIVEAWAY on instagram (10th-12thDecember) and have another Giveaway planned before Christmas . https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/