Episodios

  • The Quiet Places Where Anorexia Meets Identity & Expression

    The Quiet Places Where Anorexia Meets Identity & Expression
    Dec 5 2025
    This solo episode explores the quiet places where anorexia meets identity and expression. Dr. Marianne Miller speaks to the lived moments where someone learns to hide parts of themselves and how restriction becomes a language for survival. She examines how identity formation, self-expression, and body-based fear interact in ways that often remain hidden. The episode centers queer, trans, gender-expansive, and questioning listeners along with anyone who has felt pressure to quiet their identity in order to navigate the world. Dr. Marianne describes how anorexia rises when identity feels unsafe, unrecognized, or tightly controlled. She explains how restriction becomes a strategy to manage visibility, vulnerability, dysphoria, and the cultural pressure to stay small. The episode invites listeners to imagine recovery as a process of expanding expression, reclaiming autonomy, and restoring connection to their authentic self. Key Themes in This Episode Dr. Marianne examines the links between anorexia, identity, and self-expression. She describes how gender expectations and cultural norms shape the body story. She explains how queer and trans people often restrict to soften dysphoria or to quiet unwanted attention. She explores the way over-performance and people-pleasing silence authentic expression and strengthen restrictive behavior. She looks at the sensory landscape of anorexia and describes how neurodivergent experiences influence embodiment and identity. She also highlights the role of intersectionality. Race, culture, queerness, disability, and body size shape how someone expresses themself and how safe that expression feels. These intersections help explain why anorexia often becomes a predictable response to environments that restrict identity or punish authenticity. Why This Episode Matters Mainstream conversations about anorexia often focus on food without addressing identity, expression, and cultural pressure. Many listeners learn early that their identity takes up too much space. Many learn that desire, gender expression, and emotional truth need to stay hidden. This episode challenges the idea that anorexia develops inside a vacuum. Instead, it shows how anorexia forms inside relationships, systems, and environments that silence real expression. The episode offers validation for anyone who felt forced to shrink in order to stay safe. It expands the understanding of anorexia so listeners can see their experiences reflected with accuracy, compassion, and liberation. Who This Episode Supports This episode supports listeners who navigate anorexia while holding queer, trans, or gender-expansive identities. It supports people who experience identity suppression or dysphoria and who use restriction to manage that conflict. It supports neurodivergent listeners whose sensory experiences shape their relationship with their body and their identity. It also supports clinicians, loved ones, and community members who want a more accurate and compassionate understanding of anorexia. Resources Mentioned Liberation-based healing models Trauma-informed care Queer embodiment research Neurodivergent eating disorder literature Content Caution This episode discusses anorexia, restrictive eating, identity conflict, gender dysphoria, sexuality, sensory overwhelm, and the lived experience of shrinking to stay safe. Please listen with care and pause whenever your body needs space. Related Episodes Queer Mental Health & Eating Disorders: How Stress Shows Up in the Body & Brain With Winter Groeschl, NCC, LPC (@eatingdisorderrevealed): Apple & Spotify.LGBTQIA+, the Coming Out Process, & Eating Disorders: Apple & SpotifyLGBTQIA+ & Eating Disorders: Apple & Spotify Learn More and Get Support Dr. Marianne Miller provides therapy and coaching for anorexia, ARFID, binge eating disorder, bulimia, trauma, and body-based fear. She supports clients across California, Texas, Washington D.C., and internationally. Explore additional episodes of the Dr. Marianne Land podcast for conversations about eating disorder recovery, neurodiversity, identity, embodiment, and body liberation. Check out her website at drmariannemiller.com. Follow her on Instagram @drmariannemiller.
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    18 m
  • Understanding Harm Reduction: Why "Full Recovery" May Not Be the Goal for Lifelong Eating Disorders

    Understanding Harm Reduction: Why "Full Recovery" May Not Be the Goal for Lifelong Eating Disorders
    Dec 3 2025
    In this episode, Dr. Marianne Miller explores the reality that many people with lifelong eating disorders do not resonate with the traditional idea of full recovery. She explains why harm reduction can offer a compassionate and sustainable path for individuals who have lived with chronic anorexia, long term bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID, and other long standing eating disorders. This conversation centers trauma history, neurodivergence, sensory needs, oppression, and the intersectional barriers that prevent many people from reaching what treatment programs often define as full recovery. If you have lived with an eating disorder for decades, if you have experienced trauma or misdiagnosis, if you are neurodivergent, or if you live in a marginalized body that has faced medical discrimination, you may find this episode deeply validating. Harm reduction gives you realistic recovery goals that respect your lived experience, your nervous system, and your access needs. What You Will Learn in This Episode Dr. Marianne explains how harm reduction works in eating disorder recovery and how it differs from traditional recovery models. She shows how harm reduction supports safety, stabilization, and dignity for people who have navigated chronic eating disorders for most of their lives. You will learn why the nervous system sometimes cannot tolerate pressure toward full recovery and why a flexible, collaborative approach can feel more aligned for many people. You will hear how sensory issues, interoception challenges, executive functioning differences, autistic burnout, and ADHD related overwhelm shape eating patterns for neurodivergent individuals. You will learn how trauma history, attachment ruptures, racialized stress, gender based discrimination, medical fatphobia, and identity marginalization influence both the development of eating disorders and the recovery process. Key Topics Covered This episode covers a wide range of topics that matter deeply for people with chronic eating disorders. These topics include how harm reduction supports stabilization when the long term eating disorder has become intertwined with survival. You will hear why the phrase full recovery can feel unrealistic or even harmful for people who have lived with their eating disorder for decades. Dr. Marianne explains how harm reduction creates safety, reduces shame, increases autonomy, and supports people who need a gentler and more individualized approach. The episode explores the role of neurodiversity in eating disorder recovery. This includes how sensory sensitivities shape food choices, how interoception differences impact hunger awareness, how executive functioning challenges influence meal consistency, and why many autistic and ADHD individuals need accessible, predictable, and customized strategies. You will also learn how intersectional oppression shapes health outcomes for people of color, queer and trans individuals, disabled individuals, fat individuals, and anyone living across multiple marginalized identities. Dr. Marianne describes what harm reduction can look like in daily life, from maintaining safe foods to creating sensory friendly meals to reducing medical instability in small, sustainable steps. She shares how this approach honors personal history and current capacity and how it helps many people live with more stability and less suffering. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for anyone living with a lifelong eating disorder who has felt pressure to pursue full recovery even when that expectation does not align with their reality. It is for people with chronic anorexia, chronic bulimia, long term binge eating disorder, ARFID shaped by sensory needs, and individuals with complex trauma who feel overwhelmed by traditional treatment expectations. This episode is also for neurodivergent individuals who live with autistic sensory profiles, ADHD impulsivity, interoception challenges, and executive functioning struggles that interfere with eating. It is for people living in marginalized bodies who have experienced medical discrimination or misdiagnosis. It is for professionals who want to learn how to apply harm reduction to eating disorder treatment in inclusive, neurodivergent affirming, and identity informed ways. Why This Episode Matters Many people with chronic or lifelong eating disorders feel invisible in mainstream recovery culture. They hear messages that full recovery is the only worthy goal and feel ashamed when their body or nervous system cannot meet those expectations. This episode names that truth with compassion. Harm reduction is a valid and ethical approach that honors lived experience and brings relief to people who need safety more than perfection. This episode matters because it acknowledges the role of trauma, neurodivergence, sensory needs, and intersectionality in long term eating disorders. It challenges the idea that recovery must look the same for everyone. It shows that you deserve care ...
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    18 m
  • Chronic Illness, Wellness Culture, & Eating Disorder Recovery: Taking an Anti-Diet Approach With Abbie Attwood, MS, @abbieattwoodwellness

    Chronic Illness, Wellness Culture, & Eating Disorder Recovery: Taking an Anti-Diet Approach With Abbie Attwood, MS, @abbieattwoodwellness
    Dec 1 2025
    What happens when chronic illness meets wellness culture, diet culture, and the desperate search for answers in a system that continues to fail so many people? In this episode, I talk with Abbie Attwood, MS, @abbieattwoodwellness, an anti diet, weight inclusive nutrition therapist and host of the Full Plate Podcast. Abbie and I explore how chronic illness, medical gaslighting, and the pressure to find a cure can intersect with disordered eating. We talk about the ways wellness messaging pushes restrictive food rules, how OCD and anxiety deepen vulnerability to this messaging, and how food fear can feel like control when life feels unpredictable. We also discuss athlete identity, compulsive exercise, thin privilege, masking, neurodivergence, and the grief that comes when illness or injury forces people to rethink who they are. This conversation opens space for nuance, compassion, and the reality that healing happens inside context, not perfection. Content Caution We talk about chronic illness, disordered eating, exercise compulsion, and food restriction. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Key Topics We Cover 1. How wellness culture preys on vulnerability Abbie discusses how chronic illness created a perfect storm for disordered eating, especially when wellness messaging promised control, cures, and answers that science did not support. 2. Chronic illness and the search for control We talk about how desperation, medical dismissal, and misinformation make people more likely to turn to restrictive food rules and elimination diets. 3. OCD, anxiety, and increased vulnerability to wellness culture Abbie shares how her undiagnosed OCD and lifelong anxiety made the rigid, all or nothing tone of wellness culture feel reassuring, while actually deepening harm. 4. Athlete identity, loss, and compulsive movement We explore how losing movement due to chronic illness or injury can destabilize identity, trigger grief, and reignite disordered behaviors around exercise. 5. Masking, neurodivergence, and the pressure to perform wellness We discuss how neurodivergent masking can hide exhaustion and overwhelm, and how the pressure to perform health or discipline can push people deeper into food and exercise rigidity. 6. Chronic illness culture, shame, and blame We look at how chronic illness culture and wellness culture both place responsibility on the individual, leading to shame and self blame when bodies do not behave as expected. 7. What real nourishment looks like when illness limits capacity Abbie talks about the need for compassion, ease, adding rather than restricting, and honoring energy limitations instead of forcing strict food rules. Who This Episode Is For People navigating chronic illness and food anxiety Listeners recovering from eating disorders Neurodivergent folks who feel pressured to mask or follow rigid health rules Athletes or former athletes grieving changes in movement Anyone tangled in wellness culture messaging Clinicians who want a deeper understanding of how chronic illness intersects with disordered eating People who struggle with shame when illness reduces their capacity About Today’s Guest Abbie Attwood, MS, is an anti diet, weight inclusive nutrition therapist, writer, and host of the Full Plate Podcast. She provides virtual nutrition therapy and body image support through Abbie Attwood Wellness and writes a widely loved Substack newsletter on healing our relationships with food and body. You can find her at @abbieattwoodwellness and abbieattwoodwellness.com. Links Mentioned Abbie Attwood Wellness Substack: abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com Abbie’s website: abbieattwoodwellness.com Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness Full Plate Podcast Related Episodes Breaking Up With Diet Culture with Dr. Lisa Folden, @healthyphit on Apple & Spotify.How Eating Disorder Recovery Heals Life Overall via Apple or Spotify.Overexercising, ADHD, & Eating Disorders with @askjenup Jenny Tomei on Apple & Spotify.How Diet Culture & Purity Culture Fuel Eating Disorders: Unpacking the Trauma Behind the Rules with Cassie Krajewski, LCSW @inneratlastherapy on Apple & Spotify. Work With Me If you want support for binge eating disorder, ARFID, chronic eating struggles, or complex eating disorder patterns shaped by trauma, neurodivergence, or chronic illness, you can connect with me at drmariannemiller.com for therapy in California, Texas, or Washington D.C. I also offer global coaching and specialized courses.
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    31 m
  • When an Eating Disorder Becomes Chronic: Recovery Tools for Persistent Anorexia & Bulimia

    When an Eating Disorder Becomes Chronic: Recovery Tools for Persistent Anorexia & Bulimia
    Nov 28 2025
    What happens when an eating disorder has been part of your life for years or even decades. In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne Miller explores what recovery can look like when anorexia or bulimia becomes chronic, persistent, or long-term. Drawing from her experience as a therapist specializing in eating disorders, Dr. Marianne offers trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and body-liberation tools that help people reconnect with their bodies, support their nervous systems, and rebuild trust when recovery feels unreachable. This episode provides compassionate guidance for anyone who has lived with an eating disorder for a long time and wonders if healing is still possible. It also supports clinicians, loved ones, and helpers who want to understand the realities of severe and enduring eating disorders with more depth, nuance, and humanity. Why This Episode Matters People with chronic anorexia or bulimia often feel overlooked by treatment models that expect rapid transformation or complete symptom remission. Many have cycled through recovery attempts and relapse, often carrying shame for not recovering quickly enough. Dr. Marianne reframes chronic eating disorders as endurance rather than failure. She introduces recovery approaches that honor the nervous system, acknowledge survival strategies, and center autonomy, safety, and dignity. Key Topics Covered This episode explores why chronic anorexia and bulimia develop and why they persist over time. It highlights how survival strategies become deeply wired into the nervous system and how shame, trauma, sensory overload, and systemic oppression shape long-term eating disorders. Listeners learn how to use persistence instead of perfection, how to rebuild interoceptive awareness, how to support sensory needs, and how to regulate the nervous system in ways that feel gentle and sustainable. The episode also introduces self-compassion as a powerful tool that helps soften shame and create the conditions for real healing. Dr. Marianne explains how relational safety, autonomy, and body trust become essential for long-term recovery. Listeners also hear how intersectionality influences chronicity and why marginalized people often face more barriers to care. Who This Episode Is For This episode supports people living with chronic anorexia or bulimia, people who feel exhausted by long-term recovery efforts, and people who wonder if healing is still possible after many years of struggle. It also supports therapists, dietitians, physicians, and loved ones who want to understand chronic eating disorders through a neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-attuned, and trauma-informed lens. Content Caution This episode discusses chronic anorexia and bulimia, including references to restriction, purging, and trauma. Please listen with care and take breaks if you need to ground or regulate. Your comfort and safety matter. Related Episodes on Lifelong Eating Disorders Orthorexia, Quasi-Recovery, & Lifelong Eating Disorder Struggles with Dr. Lara Zibarras @drlarazib on Apple & Spotify.Navigating a Long-Term Eating Disorder on Apple & Spotify.Why Eating Disorder Recovery Feels Unsafe: Facing Ambivalence in Long-Term Struggles on Apple & Spotify.Perfectionism, People-Pleasing, & Body Image: Self-Compassion Tools for Long-Term Eating Disorder Recovery With Carrie Pollard, MSW @compassionate_counsellor on Apple & Spotify. Learn More and Get Support If this episode resonates with you, visit drmariannemiller.com to learn more about therapy, coaching, and resources for eating disorder recovery, including chronic anorexia and chronic bulimia. Dr. Marianne offers care that emphasizes autonomy, collaboration, and nervous system safety. You do not have to heal alone. You can also listen to more episodes of Dr. Marianne-Land on all major podcast platforms.
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    14 m
  • ARFID Is Real: Why So Many Providers Still Miss This Eating Disorder

    ARFID Is Real: Why So Many Providers Still Miss This Eating Disorder
    Nov 26 2025

    Most providers still don’t recognize ARFID when it’s right in front of them. In this episode, Dr. Marianne Miller unpacks why Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder remains so misunderstood—and how that misunderstanding harms children and adults who live with it.

    Dr. Marianne explains what ARFID really is, how it shows up across neurotypes, and why messages like “just try harder” damage safety, trust, and nervous system regulation. Through a neurodivergent-affirming lens, she explores how bias, pressure, and diet-culture thinking keep ARFID invisible and why it’s time for providers to see the reality of this eating disorder.

    Why This Episode Matters

    For too long, ARFID has been dismissed as “picky eating.” This episode reframes ARFID as a real, body-based eating disorder rooted in sensory processing, fear, or trauma—not defiance or willpower. Dr. Marianne highlights the emotional and physiological impact of being told to “try harder,” and how that phrase erodes autonomy, increases shame, and dysregulates the body.

    When we understand ARFID as a nervous-system and safety-based challenge, our entire approach to care changes. Listening replaces forcing. Collaboration replaces control. Compassion replaces shame.

    Key Topics Covered

    • What ARFID Really Is: Understanding sensory-based, fear-based, and low-interest eating patterns that have nothing to do with dieting or body image.

    • Why Professionals Miss It: How traditional training and diet-culture frameworks erase ARFID from diagnosis and treatment.

    • The Harm of “Try Harder” Messages: Exploring what happens when people are shamed or pressured to eat against their nervous system’s limits.

    • The Neurodivergent Lens: How autism, ADHD, and other forms of neurodivergence intersect with eating, safety, and sensory regulation.

    • The Role of Bias: Why marginalized identities—fat, BIPOC, neurodivergent, or gender-diverse people—are more likely to be misunderstood or dismissed.

    • What Support Looks Like: How neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-attuned, and autonomy-based care creates safety and possibility.

    Who This Episode Is For

    • Therapists, dietitians, and physicians who want to understand ARFID beyond stereotypes.

    • Parents who feel blamed or overwhelmed by their child’s restricted eating.

    • Adults who have lived with food fear or sensory eating struggles and never had language for it.

    • Neurodivergent people who want their experiences around food to be seen, validated, and supported.

    Content Caution

    This episode includes discussion of eating behaviors, sensory distress, and medical dismissal related to ARFID. Please take care of yourself and listen in a way that feels safe for your body and nervous system.

    Related Episodes
    • ARFID Explained: What It Feels Like, Why It’s Misunderstood, & What Helps on Apple & Spotify.
    • Why Sensory-Attuned Care Matters More Than Exposure in ARFID Treatment on Apple & Spotify.
    • ARFID, PDA, and Autonomy: Why Pressure Makes Eating Harder on Apple & Spotify.
    • Complexities of Treating ARFID: How a Neurodivergent-Affirming, Sensory-Attuned Approach Works on Apple & Spotify.
    Learn More and Get Support

    If you want to understand ARFID more deeply or build sensory-attuned support skills, check out Dr. Marianne’s self-paced ARFID & Selective Eating Course. This training explores sensory processing, collaborative care, and trauma-informed strategies for clinicians, parents, and community members.

    Visit drmariannemiller.com/arfid to learn more.
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    12 m
  • Having Anorexia in a Larger Body: Navigating Medical Anti-Fat Bias & Lack of Care With Sharon Maxwell @heysharonmaxwell

    Having Anorexia in a Larger Body: Navigating Medical Anti-Fat Bias & Lack of Care With Sharon Maxwell @heysharonmaxwell
    Nov 24 2025
    What happens when you live with a severe eating disorder in a larger body yet the medical system refuses to see it? In this powerful conversation, Sharon Maxwell (she/they) shares her story of surviving anorexia in a fat body, advocating for herself inside medical systems that consistently denied her care, and reclaiming joy, autonomy, and embodiment after years of harm. Sharon is an educator, speaker, and fat activist who dedicates her work to dismantling anti fat bias and eradicating weight stigma in healthcare and society. Their story and activism have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, The Tamron Hall Show, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, 60 Minutes, and more. Together, we explore the realities of receiving medical care while fat, why compassionate providers save lives, how weight stigma shaped Sharon’s early life and nearly cost her her life, and why reclaiming joy becomes an act of resistance. This episode holds so much wisdom, solidarity, and truth telling for anyone in eating disorder recovery, anyone harmed by medical weight stigma, and anyone committed to building a safer world for people in larger bodies. What We Cover in This Episode Sharon’s Early Story and Reclaiming Joy Sharon shares a surprising fun fact about being a lifelong pianist and how taking jazz lessons helped them reclaim creativity after growing up in a restrictive religious cult that controlled every aspect of music, expression, and embodied joy. They describe how jazz has become part of their healing and identity reconstruction. Growing Up Fat, Undiagnosed, and Unseen Sharon lived in a fat body their entire life and struggled with anorexia for nineteen years. They went undiagnosed because medical providers only saw their body size. When Sharon arrived with obvious symptoms of an eating disorder, providers dismissed the symptoms and blamed their body. They describe how weight stigma prevented treatment and reinforced eating disorder patterns. The Doctor Who Changed Everything Sharon describes the first doctor who recognized the eating disorder and offered real compassion. That moment shifted the trajectory of their life. We discuss how rare this experience is and why truly compassionate medical care can be lifesaving for people living in larger bodies. Medical Trauma and the Cost of Weight Stigma Sharon shares painful stories about: Being denied necessary medical procedures because of body size. Experiencing trauma at gynecological appointments. Nearly dying from untreated tonsillitis because providers assumed weight was the cause rather than treating the actual condition. The emotional and financial toll of weight stigma across childhood and adulthood. We discuss how the healthcare system misattributes the financial cost of weight stigma to the O-word and how this distorts public health narratives and patient care. Eating Disorders in Larger Bodies Sharon explains how anti fat bias prevents providers from seeing eating disorders in fat patients. They highlight how common anorexia is in larger bodies and how life threatening it becomes when medical systems refuse to diagnose or treat it. How Anti Fat Bias Harms Everyone Sharon and I talk about how dismantling anti fat bias supports every person in eating disorder recovery. Recovery requires divesting from anti fat bias, reconnecting with the body, and understanding how these biases shape thoughts and behaviors across all sizes. Intersectionality and Medical Harm We explore how harms escalate for people with multiple marginalized identities, including Black patients, Indigenous patients, trans patients, and fat patients who also face racism, transphobia, or medical gatekeeping. Advocacy, Boundaries, and Medical Self Protection Sharon shares concrete strategies for preparing for medical appointments, including: Bringing notes to stay grounded when hyperarousal hits. Recording appointments for recall and safety. Bringing a support person. Taking intentional rest time afterward. Establishing boundaries and walking out when providers violate consent. We discuss how exhausting it is to prepare for appointments that should be safe and how necessary these strategies become for survival. Why Sharon Became a Fat Activist After nearly dying because of weight stigma, Sharon left the classroom to educate clinicians, providers, and communities about anti fat bias. They now work with medical systems and general audiences to deconstruct bias, build safer care practices, and illuminate the threads of anti fat culture that harm everyone. Imagining an Ideal World Sharon answers the signature Dr. Marianne Land question. Their ideal world includes accessible spaces for play, joy, rest, and creativity for all bodies. It includes medical care rooted in compassion, humanity, and dignity, and it includes ice cream for everyone with options for all bodies and needs. Who This Episode Is For This episode supports: People in fat bodies who have experienced medical trauma. ...
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    36 m
  • An Open Letter to the Body: Listening to the Part That Fears Getting Better

    An Open Letter to the Body: Listening to the Part That Fears Getting Better
    Nov 21 2025
    In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne Miller, LMFT, speaks directly to the body that carries fear, memory, and longing for safety. Through a poetic open letter, she explores why recovery can feel unsafe even when life begins to stabilize. Instead of treating fear as resistance, she reframes it as communication and wisdom. In this episode, she invites listeners to move from fighting their bodies to listening to them. Dr. Marianne explores how trauma, neurodivergence, and systemic oppression live in the body, and how tenderness can become a bridge between fear and trust. It is not a set of instructions. It is an act of witnessing. Why This Episode Matters Many people in eating disorder recovery are told that getting better should feel empowering. But for those whose bodies have been sites of trauma, shame, or disconnection, recovery can feel unbearable. This episode reframes that discomfort as an intelligent response from the body, not as failure or lack of willpower. By turning recovery into a dialogue instead of a demand, listeners learn how to approach healing at the pace of safety. Dr. Marianne shares how fear is not the opposite of progress but a sign that the body is asking for gentler evidence that the world can hold it safely. Her trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and liberation-based approach helps listeners replace control with curiosity and build trust with the body through compassion. Key Topics Covered In this episode, Dr. Marianne reflects on: The nervous system’s memory of trauma and how it interprets safety Why the body resists calm and how to rebuild trust slowly The grief that comes with letting go of control and perfectionism How sensory sensitivities and neurodivergence affect recovery pacing The intersectional realities that make safety harder for fat, queer, trans, BIPOC, and neurodivergent people What it means to redefine “getting better” as coming home to yourself Listeners will come away with a new way to understand their bodies. They will learn that healing does not require pushing through fear but learning to listen to what fear is trying to protect. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for anyone who has ever felt frightened by their own progress in recovery. It will resonate with: People in eating disorder recovery who feel ambivalent about healing Neurodivergent listeners who experience overwhelm or shutdown during recovery Fat, queer, trans, and BIPOC individuals navigating systems that equate safety with conformity Clinicians and caregivers who want to understand the embodied realities of fear and healing It is also for those who need permission to slow down, to stop performing readiness, and to honor the body as a partner in recovery rather than an obstacle. Content Caution This episode includes discussion of eating disorder recovery, body distrust, trauma, and the emotional experience of fear during healing. It also references restriction, bingeing, and body-based distress without graphic detail. Please take care while listening. Pause or return to the episode later if it feels overwhelming. You are encouraged to have support in place as you engage with this material. Related Episodes How Childhood Trauma Shapes Eating Disorders & Body Shame (Content Caution) on Apple & Spotify.Perfectionism, People-Pleasing, & Body Image: Self-Compassion Tools for Long-Term Eating Disorder Recovery With Carrie Pollard, MSW @compassionate_counsellor on Apple & Spotify.Why Letting Go 0f Restriction Feels Unsafe in Eating Disorder Recovery on Apple & Spotify. Learn More and Get Support To continue exploring how to build safety with your body, visit drmariannemiller.com. There you will find: The ARFID & Selective Eating Course, a self-paced program offering sensory-attuned and neurodivergent-affirming tools for individuals and caregivers. The Binge Eating Recovery Membership, a space for ongoing support, education, and compassionate community that moves beyond diet culture. Blog posts, podcast episodes, and free resources on trauma-informed, consent-based, and liberation-centered recovery. Each offering is grounded in curiosity, respect, and collaboration.
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    19 m
  • Unmasking in Eating Disorder Recovery: What Neurodivergent People Need to Know About Safety & Healing

    Unmasking in Eating Disorder Recovery: What Neurodivergent People Need to Know About Safety & Healing
    Nov 19 2025
    What happens when your survival strategy becomes the thing standing between you and full recovery? In this episode of Dr. Marianne-Land: An Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast, Dr. Marianne Miller explores how masking and camouflaging shape the lives of neurodivergent people living with eating disorders. Through a trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming lens, she unpacks how chronic masking affects body trust, executive functioning, and safety in recovery. This conversation goes beyond the surface, offering insight into the deep intersection between identity, safety, and healing for autistic and ADHD people navigating disordered eating. Why This Episode Matters Masking, also known as camouflaging, is often praised as adaptability, but for many neurodivergent people it is a survival response that comes at a high cost. When you spend years performing normalcy, you can lose touch with your body’s natural rhythms, sensations, and needs. This episode reveals how masking contributes to disordered eating patterns and burnout, and why many neurodivergent individuals struggle to connect with hunger, fullness, and safety cues. Dr. Marianne explains how unmasking can become an essential part of recovery when it is grounded in safety and choice. She also highlights the collective responsibility of clinicians, families, and communities to create environments where authenticity does not come with punishment. Key Themes Covered What masking and camouflaging look like for autistic and ADHD people How chronic masking disconnects you from body cues and emotions The relationship between executive function burnout and chaotic eating Masking inside therapy and recovery spaces How unmasking becomes a healing process when safety is prioritized The crucial role of neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-aware support The realities of intersectionality and why unmasking is not equally safe for everyone The Big Intersectionality Caveat Unmasking can be freeing, but it is not always safe. For people living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, such as people of color, fat people, queer and trans individuals, and those with disabilities, authentic self-expression often carries real risks. Systems rooted in racism, fatphobia, ableism, and heteronormativity still punish difference. In this segment, Dr. Marianne offers guidance on how to navigate those risks without self-betrayal. She invites listeners to think of unmasking as a gradual and relational process rather than a demand for constant transparency. Authenticity must coexist with safety, and strategic masking can be a legitimate survival tool. Recovery is not about abandoning the mask everywhere; it is about finding and creating spaces where the mask can come off without harm. Who This Episode Is For This episode is for: Neurodivergent adults and teens in eating disorder recovery Autistic and ADHD individuals struggling with food, body image, or ARFID Therapists seeking to provide neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-informed care People navigating multiple marginalized identities who feel unsafe unmasking in treatment Parents and partners who want to better understand masking, executive functioning, and sensory needs in eating behaviors Content Caution This episode includes discussion of eating disorder behaviors, masking fatigue, and systemic oppression. Listener discretion is advised, especially if you are in early recovery or working through trauma related to identity or body shame. Related Episodes Autism & Anorexia: When Masking Looks Like Restriction, & Recovery Feels Unsafe via Apple & Spotify.Recovering Again: Navigating Eating Disorders After a Late Neurodivergent Diagnosis (Part 1) With Stacie Fanelli, LCSW @edadhd_therapist via Apple & Spotify.Stuck on Empty: Autistic Inertia, ARFID & the Struggle to Eat via Apple & SpotifyMinding the Gap: The Intersection Between AuDHD & Eating Disorders With Stacie Fanelli, LCSW @edadhd_therapist via Apple & SpotifyOur Personal Neurodivergent Stories via Apple & Spotify. Learn More and Get Support If today’s episode resonated with you, explore Dr. Marianne’s ARFID & Selective Eating Course, a self-paced, neurodivergent-affirming resource that supports sensory-based eating, autonomy, and compassion in recovery. Learn more at drmariannemiller.com.
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    19 m