Shelly-Anne McKay
Shelly-Anne McKay is a Master Certified Coach and Food Addiction Specialist with over 30 years of experience in coaching and recovery. After overcoming addictions to substances and ultra-processed foods, she founded Soul Sisters United, a global recovery platform, and developed a certification program for food addiction coaches. Passionate about empowering individuals and training professionals, Shelly-Anne is a leader in the food addiction recovery field, dedicated to promoting healing and resilience.

Elena Garcia
Elena Garcia is a Food Addiction Specialist who transformed her own struggles with emotional eating into a mission to help others. After overcoming work burnout, losing 155 pounds, and earning a degree in Psychology, she now empowers clients to heal their relationship with food. Elena creates compassionate, safe spaces for individuals to address unhealthy habits and build strategies for a thriving, joyful, and balanced life.

Key Takeaways:
Understanding Food Addiction as a Coping Mechanism: Elena shares her personal story of using food to self-soothe during tough times, from growing up in a family that used food to cope with stress to facing burnout and turning to food for comfort. Shelly-Anne highlights how her own recovery from substance abuse uncovered her ultra-processed food addiction and how this realization inspired her work.

The Role of Mental Health in Recovery: Elena's decision to study psychology led her to explore the deep connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, influencing her compassionate approach to food addiction recovery. Both women emphasize the importance of addressing the emotional roots of addiction rather than focusing solely on dieting or weight loss.

Compassion in Recovery: Shelly-Anne stresses the value of self-compassion, especially after setbacks like binges, offering practical advice on breaking the binge cycle. Both guests advocate for creating safe spaces where individuals feel supported and understood throughout their healing journey.

Professional Training for Food Addiction Recovery: Shelly-Anne discusses her Professional Food Addiction Coach Certification program, which equips wellness professionals with tools to support clients effectively. She highlights why choosing the right coach or professional is crucial for recovery.

Recognizing Emotional Triggers: Elena and Shelly-Anne share strategies to help people identify when they’re eating due to emotional triggers rather than physical hunger, a critical step in developing a healthier relationship with food.

Empathy and Innovation in Food Addiction Coaching: Shelly-Anne explains how empathy is at the heart of her coaching philosophy and how she instills this value in the professionals she trains. Looking ahead, they both share insights on the evolving landscape of food addiction treatment, including innovative modalities and broader awareness.

Advice for Those Feeling Stuck:
Practical tips and words of encouragement for anyone struggling with ultra-processed food addiction, emphasizing small steps, self-forgiveness, and finding the right support.

PROFESSIONAL FOOD ADDICTION COACH (PFAC) CERTIFICATION: https://www.shellyannemckay.com/foodaddictioncourse

Food Addiction Support Group: https://www.soulsistersunited.com

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

Dr. Olivardia is a clinical psychologist, lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Clinical Associate at McLean Hospital. He maintains a private practice in Lexington, MA, where he specializes in the treatment of ADHD, executive functioning issues, and issues that face students with learning differences. He is a recognized expert in the treatment of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He is on the Professional Advisory Boards for Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD) and The Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA), as well as sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for ADDitude and the Expert Network for Understood. He is co-author of The Adonis Complex, a book which details the various manifestations of body image problems in males. He has appeared in publications such as Time, GQ, and Rolling Stone, and has been featured on Good Morning America, Extra, CBS This Morning, CNN, and VH1. He has spoken on numerous radio and webinar shows and presents at many talks and conferences around the country. He also has lived experience as someone with ADHD and learning differences and a parent of two teenagers with ADHD and Dyslexia.

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

What if overcoming food addiction isn't about changing yourself but about identifying and releasing foreign influences within your mind? In this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Robert Falconer to dive into the concept of "unattached burdens" and explore how these external influences may drive our cravings. Falconer, an expert in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, is the author of "The Others Within Us: Internal Family Systems, Porous Mind, and Spirit Possession," which examines how unattached burdens might be impacting our behaviors and addictions.

Robert Falconer holds an undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology with a focus on the history of religions and a master's degree in psychology. With over 50 years of experience in psychotherapy, Falconer specializes in IFS Therapy and has authored multiple books, including a co-authored work with IFS founder Richard Schwartz. His latest book introduces the concept of unattached burdens, blending psychological insights with a spiritual dimension that challenges traditional Western views of the mind.

Episode Highlights:

Personal Journey: Falconer shares his career evolution over five decades, moving from Gestalt therapy to IFS and beyond.
Insights into navigating criticism and maintaining an open, resilient approach.

Understanding Internal Family Systems (IFS): Falconer introduces IFS, explaining its basic concepts and how it frames addiction as a struggle between internal "selves."
A look at how Falconer’s ideas diverge from the traditional IFS approach, particularly with the theory of unattached burdens.

Exploring "The Others Within Us": What are unattached burdens, and are they literal or metaphorical?
Discussion on the "citadel theory of mind" and how unattached burdens challenge conventional views of selfhood.
How unattached burdens differ from conditions like dissociative identity disorder.

The Concept of a Porous Mind: The "porous mind" as a way to understand openness to external influences.
How this concept redefines addiction and compulsive behaviors, offering an alternative approach to understanding cravings.

Unattached Burdens and Spirit Possession: Drawing parallels between spirit possession across cultures and psychological theories in the West.
Exploring whether these burdens are akin to Jungian archetypes.
Can unattached burdens be viewed as a metaphor, or must they be taken literally for therapeutic success?

Evidence and Ethical Considerations: Falconer discusses the evidence for external influences on thought and behavior.
Ethical questions surrounding spirit guides in therapy and the use of hallucinogens for accessing these influences.

Applying These Ideas to Food Addiction: How unattached burdens might provide new insights into food cravings and compulsive eating.
Potential applications of spirit guides or ancestral influences in addressing food addiction.
Considering parallels between "unattached burdens" and the "red dog" in Food Addiction (FA) frameworks.

Connect with Robert Falconer: Website: https://robertfalconer.us

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.