Butterfly: Let's Talk4 Loka 2022

In Depth with occupational therapist Dr Elysa Roberts

In this episode, we sit down with occupational therapist Dr Elysa Roberts to discover why OT can be effective in treating eating disorders.

First, what is an occupation? It’s generally defined as “any activity in which one engages”, which means it’s a lot more than just a job. An occupation can include eating, exercising, working, shopping, socialising, parenting, education, time spent on spiritual practice... the list just goes on. Occupations are all the ordinary and everyday activities of life.

An eating disorder can be considered an occupation, but one that isn’t good for your health or well-being. Recovery could also be defined as an occupation, and that’s why Occupational Therapists can play a key role in a person’s treatment team.

Dr Roberts, an OT since the early ‘90s, says that she realised the importance of OT as a treatment modality through her own lived experience.

“I'd go through waves of treatment, be discharged, recover, and then go through it again all while establishing my OT career. Unfortunately, what wasn't happening in those days was strong relapse prevention programmes, or relapse prevention being included as part of recovery.”

Now things are changing. Dr Roberts describes how OT can help – first by bringing a unique and holistic understanding of an individual’s mental, physical and sensory profile, but also by co-designing practical interventions that can make all the difference to ongoing recovery.

If you think you need to find out more about occupational therapists and how they could help you or someone you love, Butterfly could help. Go to Butterfly.org.au or call the Butterfly helpline on 1800 ED HOPE - 1800 33 46 73.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(88)

In Depth with LGBTIQA+ specialist Kai Schweizer

Kai Schweizer, who identifies as gender diverse, first joined the Butterfly podcast in 2020 for the episode Gender, Sexuality and Eating Disorders. Our host Sam spent some time getting to know how Kai...

15 Maalis 202217min

Addressing risks of narrow body and beauty ideals in the media

It’s no secret we’ve been fed overly narrow beauty and body standards through advertising and the media for as long as both have been around. What’s less talked about are the consequences: Constant ex...

1 Maalis 202229min

In Depth with eSafety Educator Cara Webber

The content we consume online can have been found time and time again to be a huge driver of body image issues. According to extensive research young people are particularly at risk. Social media, in ...

15 Helmi 202218min

Sex, intimacy and body image

Negative body image can impact almost every aspect of your life, especially your sex life. And while fulfilling intimate relationships is a key component of general wellbeing, the shame hammered into ...

1 Helmi 202224min

What is fat phobia (and why should you care)?

Fat phobia is the fear and dislike of fat or larger bodies. It’s irrational, unjust, and often expressed in damaging ways. In fact, weight stigma is associated with several negative outcomes for peopl...

18 Tammi 202225min

In Depth with fat positive influencer Katie Parrott

Social media influencer Katie Parrott uses her online presence to normalise our view of larger bodies and to talk about fatphobia, mental health, public health, food, fashion, and anything else that c...

4 Tammi 202218min

In Depth with exceptional sibling Jack Symonds

Jack Symonds never considered himself to be much of a swimmer. In fact, before deciding to swim the English Channel to raise funds for Butterfly, it was probably twelve years since he swam a single la...

20 Joulu 202124min

What does an eating disorder look like to you?

About a million Australians are going into this holiday season - which is often defined by feasting - struggling with an eating disorder. Many of those will be hiding in plain sight.They’ll be struggl...

14 Joulu 202125min