News & Blog

Coronavirus: Our Practice Policy

Coronavirus: Our Practice Policy

March 9, 2020

Until we receive clearer directions, CFIH is adopting a “better to be safe than sorry approach”. Please support us in our efforts to reduce the spread of Coronavirus.

International Women’s Day: Our Message

International Women’s Day: Our Message

March 8, 2020

On International Women’s Day, we passionately strike the #EachforEqual pose. To us, this pose symbolises equality, compassionate boundaries, allyship, and the disruption of destructive gender-based cycles.

Exercise and eating disorders

Exercise and eating disorders

February 20, 2020

In an interview with Hack on Triple J, CFIH Psychologist, Ashleigh Olive, proposed a number of red flags that can help to identify someone with or at risk of an eating disorder.

How accurate are nutrition information panels?

How accurate are nutrition information panels?

October 2, 2018

Diet-culture loves numbers – we’re sold the idea that we can achieve tight and calculated control over food and our bodies through counting, tracking, weighing and measuring.

5 ways to shut down diet-talk in the office

5 ways to shut down diet-talk in the office

August 15, 2018

Office diet-talk can be relentless, triggering and difficult to avoid. If 8 hours of carb, keto and cleanse commentary is making you want to ride your wheelie chair down the fire escape, here’s a few ideas for you: Excuse yourself and walk away. After a few smoke-bomb moments they’ll start to get the picture you’re … Read More

When Intuitive Eating Becomes Another Diet..

When Intuitive Eating Becomes Another Diet..

July 23, 2018

Being surrounded by a diet-obsessed culture full of rights and wrongs, dos and don’ts, can make it hard to adjust to a totally new concept in which there is no “right way”. When developing the skills of an intuitive eater, one can become stuck in thinking that they can only eat when they are hungry, … Read More

Show up, do the work, trust in the process

Show up, do the work, trust in the process

July 12, 2018

I’ve recently returned to running after abandoning it for some time, with the goal of completing a marathon at the end of the year. During tonight’s run, I got to a point along the course where I would normally fatigue and slow down before stopping..

Follow us on social media

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Reachers within the Body Image, Eating and Weight Clinical Research Team at Australian Catholic University are developing a measure of weight stigma in an effort to improve understanding and prevention of weight stigma and its effects. The researchers are looking for adults aged 18-65 years of any weight to complete an online questionnaire as part of this process. The questionnaire should take no more than 60 minutes to complete and participants will go into a draw to win an iPad mini. If you are interested, further information can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/WeightStigmaStudy
I recently wrapped up treatment with an adolescent boy who presented with Anorexia Nervosa. During our final session in which we were reviewing his journey from the onset of the illness until now, I raised the topic of 'insight'. My client made an incredibly valid but chilling point that has sat with me ever since. One which I believe we as a society need to consider if we are going to be effective in reducing the rates of eating disorders and their related condition. "I see now that I lacked insight into how unwell I was", my client admitted. "In saying that however", he continued "it was really confusing time for me in which I was receiving a lot of conflicting information". My client went on to recount, "One Sunday afternoon I was at a family BBQ in which an adult male whom I look up to approached me enthusiastically and said 'DUDEEE! You're looking SO good!'. The following day I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. The doctors said I could have died". I would like to say that these stories are few and far between but the sad reality is that we hear them quite a lot. Over the past decade, society has placed increasingly more unrealistic demands on what it means to "look good" or to "be fit". The male ideal has become increasingly leaner and more muscular - making it increasingly more unattainable and leading to increasingly more people engaging in unhealthy behaviours in their efforts to obtain it. If we are going to be effective in reducing the rates of body-image issues (along with the anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, suicidality, and interpersonal issues associated with them) we need an overhaul of sociocultural ideals. #menshealth #mentalhealth #bodyimage #eatingdisorderawareness #eatingdisoderrecovery #prevention #menstruggletoo #itaintweaktospeak #mensmeantalhealth #psychology
Just as we acquire a dodgy hip or a crook knee through the course of our lives that requires attention and rehabilitation, so too do we acquire emotional injuries. No matter how loving our upbringing or how resilient our temperament, none of us make it through life without experiencing some form of trauma. You wouldn't hesitate to see a physio to help you rehabilitate a physical injury. Nor should you be reluctant to see a mental-health practitioner to support you in resolving emotional wounds. #ItAintWeakToSpeak #MentalHealthIsHealth
Reason #1247 to not praise weight loss: an observable change in weight or shape rarely tells the full story. I once had a woman tell me that she lost a significant amount of weight following the unexpected passing of her husband. Absolutely grief-stricken, the woman was barely able to eat, sleep, or attend to her basic hygiene needs for a period of time. Subsequently, she lost a large amount of weight in a short period of time. Already feeling lonely as a result of losing the love of her life, the woman came to feel increasingly alone through the misattunement of others as they dismissed her pain with enthusiastic comments about her weightloss. The fact that we automatically praise someone for weight loss without stopping to reflect on the many possible causes of someone's drastic change in weight and shape is both alarming and depressing. If you notice that someone's weight or shape had drastically changed, you might like to attend to the reasons behind the change as opposed to the weight itself. You might say something along the lines of "You appear to have lost a lot of weight. Is everything ok? Do you want to talk about what's changed for you?"
C'mon! Doesn't it infuriate you even a little that the entire human race is referred to as "mankind"? Imagine the world changes we could create if we redirected the time and energy focused on our appearance insecurities!
WE'RE HIRING! We are looking for an experienced dietitian with a passion for and experience in the treatment of eating disorders and body-image concerns. Should you be successful in your application, your role will involve providing assessments and interventions for children and adults across the lifespan presenting with concerns with food, eating, exercise, or weight and shape. Initially, this role will be a part-time position, with the intention to progress to full-time. We are seeking a dietitian who has the capacity to work across both our Brisbane and Sunshine Coast clinics. For more details and to apply, see: https://www.seek.com.au/job/41351477?_ga=2.231084383.1734692913.1589871300-1437719540.1589871300
"Sure, I was hot. But I was also a boring, self-absorbed arsehole". This was my client's reflection as she looked back over the period of her life that she spent preoccupied with suppressing her weight. The effort that goes into fighting one's biology is often at the expense of one's ability to experience joy and spontaneity, to express consideration for and thoughtfulness of others, to dream of a future and to conjure up new ideas. While it might be hard to conceptualise being happier when your body is (by sociocultural standards) less attractive, the truth is that the positives of living a full and interesting life outweigh (pardon the pun) any joy that comes from controlling your weight/shape.
Researchers at Western Sydney University are seeking the input of those with a lived experience of an eating disorder in their quest to develop a new body-image questionnaire. You can register your interest in participating here: https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3ZXSSP9Bah0xLud
One of the many reasons that so many people with eating disorders go undiagnosed and untreated is that society has such a distorted view of what an eating disorder actually "looks like". In my time working in the field, I have heard the following descriptions of individuals who were later found to be acutely unwell with an eating disorder: *"She doesn't look 'anorexic'. She just looks like she has some sort of disease". *"She isn't very thin and she still eats but she is fainting all the time" *"I thought maybe he had Leukaemia. I didn't even consider it might be Anorexia Nervosa". If you think that you're not "thin enough" to have an eating disorder, please know that this is (sadly) a common experience. However, we are also here to reassure you that your weight/shape does not reflect your severity of illness or your deservedness for treatment. Still unsure? The team at CFIH are happy to offer obligation-free 1-off assessments for anyone who thinks that they (or someone they know) might be experiencing an eating disorder but are unsure about commencing treatment.
We jumped the gun last week but have just received an update that this segment is being aired on Ten News tonight. @channeltennews