Middle East Eating Disorders Association Podcast

In this episode, MEEDA's VP Carine El Khazen receives Ricardo Karam. Mr Karam is a talk-show host, public speaker, writer and advocate of promoting Arab achievement and social causes.  In 2010, Mr Karam decided to take storytelling to the next level and use it as a means of creating impact. He created TAKREEM Foundation, which aims to honor Arab accomplishments and bring Arab achievers to the forefront of the global stage.With Carine, Mr Karam discusses about:- Changing the perception of Arabs worldwide and giving hope to young Arabs through various initiatives and excellent storytelling- The importance of using our voices and our platforms to do good- The stigma of mental health in the Middle East & why sharing our struggles is collective therapy- The role of media in creating more mental health awareness - What we need to support ED patients in the Middle East- The importance of community and continuous learning in wellbeingFind Ricardo Karam on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin via https://ricardokaram.com/Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me 

In this episode, MEEDA discusses women's mental health with Nadia Al Sayed. Nadia Al-Sayed is a British-Kuwaiti-Palestinian anthropologist and cultural consultant. Born and raised in North London, she spent her teenage years in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She currently lives between London and Kuwait. Nadia recently founded ‘Daloo3a series’, a platform to discuss issues and affairs that affect women of the SWANA region, their diasporas and beyond, and raise the literacy women have on their bodies, mental health and more. Together, they discuss 3aib/shame, body image, body dysmorphia, Toxic beliefs about beauty and health and the pressure to be body positive.To find out more about Daloo3a, please follow @daloo3aseries on InstagramPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me 

Today, 2nd June 2022, is World Eating Disorder Action Day!The theme this year is "Caring for the carer"On this occasion, the MEEDA podcast interviewed 3 carers about their experience supporting a loved one recovering from an Eating Disorder: Leila helped her sister and husband, Atul his daughter and Carrie her daughter. They bravely share their intimate stories of diagnosis, treatment and recovery, their challenges as carers, how they managed to stay strong and focused, what they would say to someone who just discovered their child/sibling/partner has an ED and what their wish would be to prevent Eating Disorders in the Middle East.The whole MEEDA team extends their deep gratitude and recovery wishes to Leila, Atul and Carrie, but also thinks, today more than ever, about all the people suffering from an Eating Disorder and those around them helping them through this ordeal.Please share, repost, talk about Eating Disorders, today even more than usual, so we can break the stigma and get more people properly diagnosed and treated. For more on awareness and pledges this World Eating Disorder Action Day, please visit: http://www.worldeatingdisordersday.org/Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA interviews Consultant Dermatologist and author Dr Natalia Spierings about:- Skin health and disordered eating / eating disorders- Online imagery and how it impacts our vision of beauty- Cosmetic surgery- Who to trust when it comes to skin health online- The forces at play in our feeds and what creates our beauty insecuritiesYou can find Dr Natalia Spierings via @drnataliaspierings on Instagramor via www.drnataliaspierings.com: https://drnataliaspierings.com/Dr Spierings book, Skintelligent, is available for pre-order now and out on July 7th.Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA VP Carine El Khazen meets Dr Jason Lavender. Dr. Jason Lavender, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and the Deputy Director of Research for the Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (MiCOR) Program with the Metis Foundation. Dr. Lavender’s research broadly focuses on elucidating risk/maintenance factors for eating and weight disorders, particularly emotion and emotion dysregulation, personality and temperament, and neurocognitive functioning. His research additionally focuses on unique factors related to the manifestation and assessment of eating disorder symptoms among boys and men, including muscularity-oriented disordered eating.Together, Carine and Dr Lavender discuss: - Dr Lavender's work in the field to advance ED detection in men and change typical female-oriented evaluation tools- Prevalence of muscularity-oriented nature ED within the male US population - American College-age men's concerns and issues around their bodies - How to draw a line between a balanced relationship with fitness/food/body & concerning behaviours that might stay under the radar if these appear as “bio-hacking” or “gaining strength/performance”- Understanding and defining bigorexia, also called reverse anorexia- The problem with unrealistic male body ideals online and how they lead boys and men to muscularity-driven ED Find Dr Jason Lavender's research via www.researchgate.net or on Twitter @drjasonlavenderPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA volunteer and certified Eating Psychology Coach Florence Gillet interviews Dr Riccardo Dalle Grave, Director of the Department of Eating and Weight Disorders at Villa Garda Hospital (Lago Di Garda, Italy).In collaboration with Professor Christopher Fairburn, Dr Dalle Grave developed an original inpatient treatment for eating disorders based entirely on enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT-E), an adaptation of CBT-E for adolescents with eating disorders, and the CBT-OB, an innovative treatment combining the behavioral treatment for obesity with strategies and procedures derived by the CBT-E for eating disorders.  Over the past 20 years, he has published several papers in international peer-reviewed journals (137 included in PubMed), about 100 papers in Italian, 25 books in Italian, and written three books in US. In 1997 he founded the First Certificate of Professional Training in Eating Disorders and Obesity. This one-year course, that is now at the 19th cohort, trains medical doctors, psychologists, and dietitians in cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders and obesity. He provides expert supervision for clinical services in Europe, the USA, Australia, and the U.A.E.Together, Florence and Dr Dalle Grave discuss about1/ what is CBT-E and what makes CBT E the gold standard for ED treatments in adults?2/ CBT-E : a)       who can benefit from it, b)      who is allowed to deliver itc)       treatment modalities (how long, how often, etc)3/ Differences between Family Based Therapy and CBT-E for adolescents4/ the most crucial support parents can provide if they have an adolescent being treated with CBT-E5/ Differences between the Focused and Broad version of CBT-E and who needs what6/ Guided self-help for binge eating disorder, as a streamlined form of CBT-E 7/ If someone doesn’t have access to CBT-E where they are, what could be a Plan B option for treatmentTo know more about CBT-E for patients, professionals and lay people, please visit www.cbte.co: https://www.cbte.co/Consider reading Dr Dalle Grave and Carine El Khazen's book:  Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Young people with Eating Disorders.Or understand how to get trained in CBT-E via https://www.credo-oxford.com/#topic0Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA VP Carine El Khazen chats about the role of parents in eating disorders prevention and treatment with Journalist, radio host and “Honest motherhood” blogger  Helen Farmer.Together they discuss the impact of Covid on children and on parenting, how to spot and diagnose eating disorder behaviours in children and teens, the dangers of dieting and social comparison, what parents can do to prevent eating disorders, how to talk to a child that exhibits red flags for an ED and what parents of children with an eating disorder can do to stay calm and support their children in recovery.To find out more about these topics, consider buying Carine El Khazen's book, "Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders in Young People: A Parents' Guide" available here https://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Behaviour-Therapy-Eating-Disorders/dp/0367775050Follow Helen Farmer via Instagram @_helenfarmer_ or http://themothershipdxb.com/Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, Eating Disorder expert Dietitian Hala Abu Taha chats to Mental Health Advocate Maha Khan, of @islamandeatingdisorders about navigating Ramadan with an Eating Disorder. Together they evoke:- Risks of fasting for ED patients- How to mentally prepare for the challenges that lie ahead- and how to develop healthy behaviors and traditions that are worth keeping year round to help boost our health and happiness.– Managing meal times, the trigger of the large meals and feelings of guilt around (not) eating, comparison, without relapsing– Maintaining relationship – dealing with the feeling of no one understands, isolation, social pressure and stress of “holidays”- How to spend Ramadan with people who simply don’t understand Eating Disorders?- How to deal with family when they insist we fastFind Maha's outstanding work via https://waragainsteatingdisorder.com/Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, ED Registered Dietitian Carina Khoury Ghossoub meets Rouhana El Hage, Head of video content for ITP Media groupTogether they talk about Rouhana's story with body dysmorphia and with disordered eating and overexercising, his journey into bariatric surgery and the risks associated with it, toxic masculinity and many more topics.Follow Rouhana via Instagram @rouhana or Perfection 101 via https://youtu.be/bmvc9P1aegghttps://youtu.be/b3I-SqNydMIPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, Specialist ED Dietitian Hala Abu Taha meets Egyptian born, London raised writer Alya Mooro.  Together, they discuss some of the cultural stereotypes Alya talks about in her book “The Greater Freedom: Life as a Middle Eastern woman outside of the stereotypes” and how these might affect women’s relationship with themselves and their bodies. - Why representation is key to help with authentic living- “The Arab contradictions that while women are warned against being in any way sexual from childhood, they are at the same time trained to be almost wholly preoccupied with their body, hair, eyelashes and clothes, sometimes even at the expense of developing their minds, personalities and other assets”. - The “invisible jury”, the concept of 3aib and gossip specifically targeting women and their looks - What is a better way than forbidding food, drink, sex - Where to start on our way to the greater freedomFind Alya's book, newsletter and podcast via www.alyamooro.comPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, ED RD Carina Khoury Ghossoub meets May Kassem, psychologist and co-founder of Egyptian fashion brand Scarabeus Sacer.May tells Carina about her initiative and why it felt right to link Fashion to  Mental Health awareness, sustainability, body image improvement, etc, and the changes she sees in Egyptian society when it comes to mental health.Find the brand on Instagram @scarabaeusacerWebsite: www.scarabaeus-sacer.comor get it delivered wherever you are in the world: https://www.itsherstore.com/collections/scarabaeussacerPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA volunteer and recovery advocate Megan Reilly (megsy_recovery) interviews Yasma Baalbaki about her experience of having an eating disorder. Yasma is currently in recovery, receiving treatment for anorexia, and sells cards to raise money for MEEDA under the handle @feel2_heal. Together Meg and Yasma discuss: Yasma's storyBuilding self worth away from food and bodyMotivation & incentives Recovery goals - both big & little Distractions and coping with anxietyBody changesSocial media - deleting Tik Tok and changing your Instagram feedComparisons to other bodiesBest gain from recovery so farYasma's voluntary work selling cards for MEEDA, as "Feel 2 Heal"Find Yasma on Instagram @feel2_healPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

In this episode, Clinical Psychologist and MEEDA VP answers Listeners questions about ED, including questions about surviving the Holidays season while in recovery.1/ How to cope with comparing your recovery journey to others2/ How to cope with not feeling "sick enough"/ that my struggles are valid3/ How can I open up to my parents about my ED4/ I went again and purge for a whole week, will I gain weight? What should I do?5/ What are treatment options for ED and how do I choose the one that fits me best?6/ How can I enjoy the Holidays without feeling like an outcast?7/ How to deal with New Year's resolutions?8/ How can I manage body comments and triggers that family members can make during the Holidays?In this podcast, we mention the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. You can find it here: https://centerformsc.org/Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA volunteer and RD Carina Khoury Ghossoub interviews Dr Jennifer Thomas (Co-Director, Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School) about Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Together they discuss: - what is ARFID? How common is it?- how is it diagnosed?- how impairing is it? What are the consequences on a patient’s health, mentally, socially, physically?- what are the treatments available?- how to recognize it in family members or loved ones? How to approach them or help them?- the neural / biological side of ARFID - how most patients tend to have specific appetite, sensitivity and satiety cues- how to differentiate ARFID from Anorexia when patients show signs of malnutritionFind Dr Jennifer Thomas on Twitter @drjennythomasHer books are  "The Picky Eater's Recovery Book" and "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (Children, Adolescents, and Adults)"Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

November is typically dedicated to men's health. With this episode, AUBMC head Psychiatrist and MEEDA host Dr Farid Talih meets Karim Khalil, clinical psychologist and owner of the @yalla.lets.heal Instagram account. Together they talk about- Karim's history of overeating and growing up with food as a reward- How Karim's history influences his work as a clinical psychologist- How ED present in men, and whether that is influenced by sexual orientation too- How to recognise an ED in men around you- Why men take on average 7 years to be diagnosed- What is specific to men and ED in the Middle East- What should fathers keep in mind when raising their sons to be balanced eatersYou can find out more about Karim Khalil via Instagram @yalla.lets.heal or @ninelebanonKarim is also a volunteer for @afemena and @kafalebanonFarid Talih can be contacted via AUBMC website or Tele-Health Psychiatry Portal via 01759620 (in Lebanon)Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

In this episode, Eating Disorder recovery advocate Megsy_Recovery, interviews ED Recovery Coach Safia Muzaffar, to discuss their own experiences of their recovery and CBT-E treatment. Together they discuss:Not feeling ‘ill enough’Comparison to other people’s foodComparison to other people’s bodiesGoals & motivation in recovery Coping with weight gain  Protecting your recovery Family advice Overcoming obsessions with foodThey also mention some recovery podcasts which have helped in their recoveries: The All In Podcast, The Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast, ED Matters, Food Psych, Don't Salt My Game, Beyond Body, Recovery Bites, iWeigh, Real Health Radio.And they mention a recovery book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders in Young People - By Riccardo Dalle Grave, Carine el Khazenhttps://www.routledge.com/Cognitive-B...Contacts:Safia: safia.s.muzaffar@gmail.comMegan: megsy_recovery (instagram)Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.meFor your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

In this Halloween special, Clinical Psychologist and ED expert Maya Fleifel Sidani meets Dr Lily O'Hara, Associate Professor of Public Health at Qatar University and Health At Every Size advocate, to discuss Eating Disorder Prevention in children and families. Together they chat about- Public Health initiatives related to weight and children in the Middle East- What campaigns work and which ones are harmful- How can kids and families celebrate Halloween while remaining balanced- What parents need to consider if they feel stressed about Halloween candy- Ways for young ED patients to deal with celebrations like Halloween while in recoveryThey also make reference to a book by Da’Shaun Harrison’s Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness You can find Dr O'Hara on Twitter @lilyohara or via Qatar University's College of Health Sciences @chs_qu Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.me For your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contacts www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA VP and ED Clinical Psychologist, Carine El Khazen, interviews Lana El Sahely, Influencer and Entrepreneur, and they answer and discuss the following questions:1) How Lana Elsahely started her career in the digital world in 20102) What it means to deal with the scrutiny of being in the public eye for so long3) How Lana grew into new ways to protect her identity & self-worth from her public persona4) The importance of not comparing to others online, especially not bodies or just one aspect of their life5) What defines an ED6) Impact of IG/FB/social media on young peoplePlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.me  For your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contactswww.meeda.me

In this episode, ED Clinical Therapist Maya Sidani and ED certified dietitian Hala Abu Taha answer 12 questions from our listeners on:1) Can I get back to my pre-dieting set point weight?2) a) How do you help someone who you love who is suffering from an ED, but who hasn’t admitted it yet?b) What if this person is triggering for me?3) How do I accept a higher weight than I was pre-ED?4) Why do I miss being sick?5) How do I stop anxiety after eating a scary meal?6) I feel like I am only loved when I am underweight & sick7) Advice around going back to school with an active ED8) What is the difference between evidence based & non-evidence based treatment? Does it matter?9) Do EDs affect fertility?10) Link between heart rate & blood sugar11) What to do if you can’t find cbte in your area12) Is it ok to lose weight in anorexia recovery?Please reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.me  For your free 15 mins assessment, please visit www.meeda.me/contacts www.meeda.me

In this episode, MEEDA receives special guest Elissa Freiha. Elissa Freiha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Global Communications from the American University of Paris, the city in which she was born and raised. An Emirati of Lebanese and American descent, Elissa is an entrepreneur, investor, public speaker, women’s rights advocate and founder of Womena, a global media company dedicated to sharing stories that inspire change by creating the region’s most compelling female-focused content. With Elissa, we discussed gender inequality in the ME, the link between gender inequality and body dissatisfaction - and by extent, eating disorders. We also talked about Elissa's tools to become more educated on media and messaging, and take a step back from triggering content online. Elissa also recommends to read this book to anyone who wants to know more about cultural influences on eating and exercising beliefs. To find out more about Elissa and her work at Womena please follow @womena and @freihaPlease reach out with your questions, suggestions and feedback via media@meeda.me. For your free 15 mins assessment, please visit meeda.me/contacts