The Full of Beans Podcast

Today I'm joined by Dr Courtney Raspin, a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Clinical Director of Altum Health, a specialist eating disorders and mental health clinic in London. Courtney has over 25 years of clinical experience, including a decade in one of the NHS's largest eating disorder services.
She's just co-authored a book called The Weight Loss Prescription with psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton (available 26th Feb!) - a book about the psychology of GLP-1 weight loss medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro. Given her background in eating disorders, Courtney has a nuanced perspective on weight loss medications, which I think is really important to hear.
If you’re in eating disorder recovery and feeling unsettled by the rise of GLP-1 medications… if you’ve noticed feelings of jealousy, confusion or fear around them… or if you’re trying to understand where health support ends and diet culture begins, this conversation is for you.
Key Takeaways:
How Courtney’s work in eating disorders shaped her approach to weight management
The warning signs of high drive for thinness
Why weight loss doesn’t automatically improve body image
The difference between body neutrality and body positivity
Why GLP-1 medications aren’t inherently harmful
The risks of unregulated access, online prescribing, and counterfeit medication
The various causes of “food noise” and why GLP-1 medications may help
What psychological support in weight management actually involves
Courtney’s guidance on GLP-1s and eating disorder recovery
Timestamps:
00:00 Courtney’s journey into weight management
05:00 Body neutrality and realistic body image work
08:30 Understanding GLP-1s: benefits, risks and misconceptions
12:00 Food noise and why context matters
16:00 The psychological work behind lasting change
21:00 Health vs the thin ideal
27:00 Tensions within the ED field and professional responses
31:30 What to consider before starting GLP-1s
34:30 Courtney’s book and final advice
Resources & Links
Follow @drcourtneyraspin on Instagram
Connect with Us:
Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
Check out our website
Listen on YouTube
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating), restriction, weight loss, GLP-1 medications, and body image. Please take care when listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Jo Read, a mum to two daughters, ARFID advocate and 1/3 of 3 Mums 1 Mission ARFID. Jo's youngest daughter, Ethel, is diagnosed with ARFID and is awaiting an autism assessment. Since supporting Ethel through her sensory-based eating difficulties, Jo has poured her energy into raising awareness, because when you’re living it, ARFID can feel unbelievably isolating.
If you’re a parent or carer navigating food fears, sensory sensitivities, “helpful” comments that aren’t helpful, and the constant planning that comes with ARFID, this one is for you. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re responding to a very real, very complex need.
Key Takeaways:
The reality of ARFID as a genuine fear that can override hunger
Sensory sensitivities (texture, smell, predictability) are at the core of ARFID
Why consistency and familiarity make certain foods feel safer
The limits of BMI as a marker of health in children with arfid
How sensory overload at mealtimes can increase food avoidance
The impact of ARFID on family life, routines, siblings and social plans
Why “just stop feeding them” advice doesn’t work for ARFID
The value of community, advocacy and finding people who understand
How progress in ARID can look small but still be meaningful
Timestamps:
00:00 Jo’s story and Ethel’s ARFID diagnosis
02:20 Early Signs of ARFID
05:30 BMI and Nutrition
10:50 Safe foods, Predictability and Super Senses
14:10 The Sensory Overload of Eating
17:00 Family Impact: Days Out, Siblilngs, Friends
20:20 Social Judgement and Support
29:00 Looking Ahead and Slow Progress
Resources & Links
Follow @eff_and_arfid on Instagram
Listen to the 3Mums1Mission ARFID Podcast
Connect with Us:
Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
Check out our website
Listen on YouTube
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorders, ARFID. Please take care when listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this episode of Full of Beans, Hannah is joined by Sarah Woodruff, mum to Grace and 1/3 of the podcast 3Mums1MissionARFID. Sarah co-created the podcast after feeling deeply isolated navigating her daughter’s eating difficulties, wanting to create a space where parents could hear stories that reflected their own and feel less alone.
In this conversation, Sarah shares Grace’s journey in more depth, including the years of uncertainty, dismissal, escalation, and the ongoing reality of supporting a child with ARFID and autism.
This episode is for parents, carers, and SEN professionals who are feeling unheard or wondering whether they’re “overreacting.” It offers reassurance that you’re not imagining it, permission to trust your instincts, and comfort in knowing that others have walked a similar path. Above all, it’s a reminder that ARFID is complex, individual, and never a result of bad parenting.
Key takeaways:
What ARFID can look like beyond early childhood
Why the term “late-onset ARFID” deserves questioning.
How autism, sensory overwhelm and anxiety can affect eating
Why emetophobia (fear of vomiting) can make eating feel genuinely unsafe
How school stress and transitions can exacerbate ARFID in children
How ARFID differs from “fussy eating”
How food avoidance can lead to weight loss, distress, or social isolation
How lowering pressure around food can support ARFID recovery
The power of parental intuition, even when professionals dismiss concerns
Timestamps:
02:50 Grace’s early eating and when things began to change
07:40 Anxiety, school stress, and the escalation of food restriction
10:10 ARFID, emetophobia, and reaching crisis point
13:30 Hospital care, NG tube feeding, and diagnosis
22:50 Autism, masking, and questioning “late-onset” ARFID
29:00 What helped: reducing pressure and rebuilding safety
36:20 A message for parents who are questioning themselves
Resources & Links
Listen to the 3Mums1Mission ARFID Podcast
Connect with Us:
Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
Check out our website
Listen on YouTube
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorders, ARFID, NG tube feeding. Please take care when listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this week's episode, Han is joined by Michelle Jacques. Michelle is a devoted mum of two who has lived with ARFID since her son started weaning. Through her own experience of supporting her son with ARFID, she has become a passionate advocate, working tirelessly to raise awareness and support others navigating life with this complex food intake disorder. She is the founder of @arfid_life_uk, where she raises awareness of ARFID by sharing her family's experience.
This episode holds space for the grief, the guilt, the fight, and also the hope, including the unexpected shift Michelle has seen as her son’s body becomes nourished again.
This week, we discuss:
What ARFID can look like and how it can go beyond “picky eating.”
How sensory differences, autistic eating, and ARFID can overlap
How illness can trigger choking fears and a trauma response that reinforces food avoidance
What it’s like when a child’s intake drops to just a couple of “safe” items
What a PEG (gastrostomy tube) is and how PEG feeding can support ARFID
The emotional impact of PEG decisions for parents, including grief andguilt
Why nutrition can change anxiety, rigidity, and capacity
The role of advocacy in ARFID awareness
How to document ARFID symptoms to report to a doctor
Timestamps:
03:10 Sensory differences, autism, and how ARFID developed over time
07:40 Illness, choking fears, and how trauma can collapse food intake
09:15 Hospitalisation: constipation and appendix surgery
18:30 What a PEG is (and what people often misunderstand about it)
29:40 How PEG feeding can support ARFID
41:30 Guilt, grief, and learning to let the feelings exist
45:10 ARFID Advocacy work
Resources & Links
Follow @arfid_life_uk on Instagram
Listen to the 3Mums1Mission ARFID Podcast
Connect with Us:
Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
Check out our website
Listen on YouTube
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Mentions of eating disorders, ARFID, NG tube feeding. Please take care when listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

Kel O’Neill is a UK-based counsellor, educator, researcher, and lived-experience advocate specialising in eating disorders. She is the founder of Mental Health Bites, creator of The Eating Disorder Recovery Companion, and the curator of VOXED – Voices of Experience in Eating Disorders. Kel’s work focuses on ethical, trauma-informed practice, challenging stigma, and bridging the gap between lived experience and professional knowledge.
This week, we discuss:
What VoxED is and why Kel created it.
Why eating disorder education often feels inaccessible, and what VoxED is doing differently.
How VoxED broadens “lived experience” to include clinicians, carers, researchers and community voices.
Why lived experience shouldn’t be tokenistic, and how it can be valued as expertise.
Why the eating disorder field needs shared spaces for nuanced, difficult conversations.
How recovery goes beyond food and weight to identity, meaning and living.
Timestamps:
00:00: What is VoxED?
02:10 :Where did the idea began (EDAW 2021)
05:10: Who's speaking at VoXED
06:40: Moving beyond “tick-box” lived experience
08:10: The purpose of VoxED: shared space + shared power
14:40: Why change has been slow in eating disorders (and what’s missing)
21:10: Recovery beyond food and weight: identity, meaning, and living
42:10: VoxED details: date, access, recordings, and low-cost tickets
VoxED conference details:
Date: Friday 13th February
Format: Fully online (9:00–18:30, with breaks)
Tickets: self-select pricing options £20 / £37 / £50
Resources & Links
Follow Kel on Instagram (@kel_mhb)
Visit Kel's website (www.counsellingandtraining.co.uk) to find out more about VOXED
Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
Check out our website
Listen on YouTube
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛