Be Yourself. Happy. Healthy. Hopeful.

It’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) 2023!

On this episode, BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with Canadian mental health blogger, writer and speaker Chloë Grande.

On this episode, BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with Registered Social Worker, Juliana Simon (she/her), from Trans Wellness Ontario (TWO). TWO is a community mental health organization within Windsor-Essex whose mission is to enhance and sustain the health and wellness of Transgender, Genderqueer, Two-Spirit, Non-Binary, Queer and Questioning communities and their families.

Juliana is a social worker at TWO and conducts assessments for new clients, facilitates health outreach and provides individual counselling for members of the Trans* community and their partners. In her studies at the University of Windsor, she completed a Bachelors of Social Work and Women’s and Gender Studies. Juliana notes that this is where her love for activism and advocacy flourished. As a member of the community, Juliana is extremely proud of the work she does at TWO and is happy she can now offer services that were not accessible to herself or to other loved ones who have experienced similar challenges.

In this episode, Stephani and Juliana discuss Juliana’s role, as well as the services offered at TWO and which are most heavily utilized by their clients. They get into the type of education TWO provides to other organizations and the importance of a safe space in health care for members of the Trans* community. Stephani asks Juliana to describe some of the terminology that is used and why it is important to be considerate of one’s pronouns. They also touch upon the unique considerations that pertain to the Trans* community as it relates to body image issues.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with Registered Dietitian, Nicole Boulanger. Stephani and Nicole are also joined Erin McMahon, who is a University of Michigan School of Public Health student who is currently completing her internship at BANA.

Nicole, Erin and Stephani discuss what working as a dietitian in the field of eating disorders is like, how Nicole found herself in this area of work, working with a Health at Every Size approach, what is intuitive eating and how to define health more broadly. We also discuss diet culture, comments about food and body and how health behaviours go a long way in supporting your overall health.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn connects with psychology professor, TEDx speaker, and former school psychologist, Dr. Andrea Dinardo.

Dr. Andrea Dinardo is a psychology professor, TEDx speaker, and former school psychologist who applies positive psychology to facilitate personal growth and transformational change. Her psychology blog and TEDx Talk (both called Thriving Under Pressure) were created in response to rising levels of student stress and anxiety. The purpose of both is to help individuals and groups develop coping skills in interactive, educational, and uplifting ways.

Dr. Dinardo received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Western University. Afterwards, she completed the post-doc internship and exam requirements of the College of Psychologists to become a fully registered psychologist (C. Psych.) in the province of Ontario, Canada.

As a registered psychologist specializing in school and counselling psychology, Dr. Dinardo spent 18 years working with students, educators, and their families. She retired her psychologist practice in 2016 to dedicate more time to psychology teaching, speaking, and writing.

In this episode, Stephani and Dr. Dinardo speak about what positive psychology is, turning your perceived flaws into strengths by moving from self-criticism to self-compassion, posttraumatic growth and how adversity can be beneficial to us, boundaries around social media use, the magic of prevention work and maintaining hope.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) runs annually each February from the 1st to the 7th. EDAW has been commemorated across Canada since 1988 by established eating disorder organizations, education and public health institutions, and concerned members of the public. It draws attention to the causes, prevalence and impact of eating disorders. Traditionally, organizations around the country host local events, light notable landmarks in the colour purple, and engage in public education campaigns in an effort to raise awareness of eating disorders.

Today, for our special EDAW episode of the podcast, Stephani chats with Ary Maharaj. Ary is the Outreach and Education Coordinator at the National Eating Disorders Information Centre, or NEDIC, based out of Toronto. A secondary area of Ary’s work, outside of his role at NEDIC, is providing counselling and group therapy in his community.

NEDIC provides information, resources, referrals and support to Canadians affected by eating disorders through their toll-free helpline and instant chat. NEDIC’s outreach and education programming focuses on the awareness and prevention of eating disorders and is available online across Canada and in-person in the Greater Toronto Area.

Ary and Stephani discuss, what is eating disorders awareness week, some myths and misconceptions associated with eating disorders, changes that could be made within our health care system in order to improve eating disorder care, how far we need to go when it comes to eating disorder prevention and how we get there, and all ither things eating disorder awareness and advocacy!

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with Registered Social Worker, and clinician at BANA, Sara Dalrymple.

Sara and Stephani discuss what working as a social worker in the field of eating disorders is like, who is on BANA’s clinical team, how assessment and diagnosis work at BANA, what type of therapy is used in treatment for our clients, the complexities of trauma, and more specifics about eating disorder treatment.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with anti-diet Registered Holistic Nutritionist® and Certified Intuitive Eating (IE) Counsellor, Sarah Berneche.

Sarah and Stephani discuss what intuitive eating is and how it can help heal one’s relationship with food, misconceptions of IE, how this concept is used with clients, what weight stigma is and the role of the health professional in recognizing signs of disordered eating and eating disorders.  Stephani also learns more about Sara’s new book which is focused on intuitive eating principles, self-care strategies, and recipes. Additionally, Sara shares her own health journey and experience with disordered eating and how she was led to IE.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn chats with Registered Nurse and Team Canada Track and Field Olympian, Noelle Montcalm.

Noelle and Stephani discuss her time as a student athlete competing as a Lancer on the University of Windsor’s Track and Field team, what drew her to becoming a nurse, the surreal experience and emotions associated with being a part of the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, why supportive mentors and communities are important, her own relationship with food as an athlete, being a positive influencer online and how she became a mental health advocate.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn sits down with local yoga teacher, reflexologist and reiki practitioner, Carly Deslippe.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn sits down with mental health educator from the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Windsor-Essex Branch, Jenny-Lee Almeida.

Together, they discuss the challenges that COVDID-19 isolation places on our mental health, accessing services in Windsor during COVID-19, mental health month & reducing stigma associated with mental illness, the benefits of slowing down and being mindful, how no loss right now is too little and the importance of grieving.

BANA Health Educator, Stephani Fenkanyn sits down with author, activist and inclusive yoga instructor, Dianne Bondy. They discuss creating inclusive yoga spaces, the evolution her own body image and utilizing social media in a positive way.