Food Psych #201: The Path Back to Intuitive Eating with Devinia Noel

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Psychotherapist and fellow certified intuitive eating counselor Devinia Noel joins us to discuss how her work as a therapist influenced her own process of re-learning intuitive eating, why using food as a coping skill isn’t a bad thing, how diet culture creates shame, the need for diversity among intuitive-eating counselors, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about what to do if you get a diagnosis of pre-diabetes.

Devinia Noel is a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist and certified intuitive eating counsellor. She believes in a health at every size paradigm and a weight-neutral approach. Her mission is to create a safe diverse intersectional space for all individuals to develop peace with food and their bodies. Devinia is passionate about making non-diet spaces more diverse by sharing her experiences as a black woman previously trapped by diet culture. She also works in the community as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist helping people with a wide range of problems including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and disordered eating. Her experience of implementing self-care and self-compassion, inspires her to encourage clients to implement these practices. When Devinia has free time, she can be found baking, lifting weights and spending time with family and friends. Find her online at DeviniaNoel.com.

We Discuss:

  • How Devinia’s relationship with food changed as she grew up, including the role of experiencing puberty and comments from family members

  • Why using food as a coping skill isn’t a bad thing

  • The pain and shame of living in diet culture

  • How to introduce intuitive eating to our families

  • Having compassion for our younger selves who were trapped in diet culture

  • The process of re-learning intuitive eating

  • How Devinia’s work as a therapist influenced her personal path toward intuitive eating

  • Weight stigma in the public-health field

  • What it’s like to be a black woman working in the anti-diet space

  • The need for more diversity among intuitive eating professionals

  • Vulnerability and navigating social media

  • The challenges and rewards of setting boundaries

  • The importance of self-care for activists

 

Resources Mentioned

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Listener Question of the Week

As someone living in a larger body, will my diagnosis of being prediabetic push me back towards having an eating disorder? Are there any HAES resources for people who are prediabetic? Is prediabetes a real diagnosis? Does prediabetes lead to diabetes for most people? How can healing my relationship with food help my blood sugar levels? Should I cut out carbs? Will healing my relationship with food also heal my physical symptoms?

Resources Mentioned:

  • Article about how the diagnosis of prediabetes is influenced by the pharmaceutical industry (CW: “O-words” and other diet-culture language)

  • Christy’s list of Health at Every Size providers

 
Christy HarrisonIntuitive eating, weight stigma, diet culture, shame, vulnerability, social media, body shaming, disordered eating, dieting, weight shaming, public health, mental health professionals, boundaries, coping skills, diversity, race, prediabetes, diabetes, binge eating, S619