Holistic Care with Psychologist Rebecca Cuskelly & Dietitian Suchitra Kurana

On this week's episode I am super excited to be introducing you to our next special guests! Rebecca Cuskelly, a Clinical Psychologist, Co- Director & Founder of The Practice & Senior Dietitian from The Practice, Suchitra Kurana. Rebecca and Suchitra both have a passion for working with people with eating disorders and body image concerns.

A little bit more about Rebecca.. She is a board approved supervisor with a special interest in supporting people with anxiety, depression, Binge Eating Disorder, body image disturbance, obesity management and eating disorders. Rebecca began her career working in mental health services in rural NSW where she used John Kebat Zinn’s research to establish and develop a Mindfulness for Depression group therapy program. Rebecca also helped found and run a community based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy program in Sydney as well as worked on assessment and delivery of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for those with mood disorders and anxiety. Rebecca worked at Northside clinic for 5 years where she delivered inpatient and outpatient treatment In the Eating Disorders Program, working with adults, adolescents and families. Rebecca also completed research at the Northside Clinic looking at individual factors influencing treatment outcomes in eating disorders. Simultaneously Rebecca worked in the Mood and Anxiety Unit to deliver short- term and client led treatment.

For Suchitra! She is also a supervisor for Dietitians with a special interest in eating disorders, emotional eating, chronic dieting, body image concerns, vegetarian & vegan diets, general nutrition, women’s health, food intolerances- IBS management and Chronic disease management. A little bit more about Suchitra.. She completed a Bachelor in Biomedical Science with MUIC, Thailand and a Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics with the University of Sydney. She has been practicing in a variety of settings over the last 15 years of her career. She is passionate about helping clients break the cycle of dieting, through intuitive eating principles to find freedom and fulfillment with food. Suchitra is interested in supporting parents with adolescents with eating disorders within the home environment using Maudsley Family Therapy, where she was trained by leading clinicians at The Children’s Hospital Westmead. Suchitra has been trained in RAVES Eating Model- Developing Positive Relationships with Food, Foundations for Trauma informed care for Dietitians, and Body image training- The Missing Piece of the Whole Body Healing. She practices using various mind and body connection techniques such as mindfulness- based practices and body image work.

On this week’s episode Suchitra and Bec will be speaking about the role of holistic care when supporting someone with an eating disorder presentation. Discussing the importance of rapport building not just with the client but within the multidisciplinary team. Stigma and barriers to care will be talked about in regards to a person’s ability to seek help for an eating disorder and receive the adequate care they need. Looking at individual factors impacting people’s lives and their ability to work towards eating disorder recovery. So let's get into it!

Podcast Summary

1. Wellness is holistic

2. Eating disorders impact multiple facets of people’s lives

3. Holistic needs and what is realistically achievable

4. Not all professionals are trained in eating disorders

5. An eating disorder is only one part of a person’s life

Links to the Practice: Located in Crows Nest, Sydney

Website: https://www.theprac.com.au/

Links from the episode and to BodyMatters:

BodyMatters Australasia Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bodymatters.com.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

BodyMatters Instagram: @bodymattersau

Butterfly Foundation Helpline: Call their National Helpline on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠1800 33 4673⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠chat online⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠email