Kirsten Oelklaus's guest appearances

Kirsten Oelklaus

Small Changes Big Shifts

Addiction Unlimited 

Anita Moorjani

Kara Goldin

Christine Hassler

Adam Hamilton

Sonia Choquette

Neal Barnard

JJ Virgin

Trevor Cates

Aviva Romm

Steven Gundry

Ashley Stahl

Matt Damon

Amy Dresner

Robby Barbaro

Robynne Chutkan

OwlTail

Amy Sullivan

Brooke Wesley

About Bellatore Recovery The Bellatore Recovery philosophy is grounded in connection. Their founders are all native Kansans, connected as personal friends and colleagues for over 15 years. Throughout their years treating eating disorders, they’ve consistently seen that building truthful connections with your own courage, your own beauty, and your own people lets you:  Make peace with yourself Tap into your true unique strengths Find lasting recovery from eating disorders   About Brooke Wesley Brooke’s desire to help individuals struggling with and recovering from eating disorders began shortly after she recovered from her own eating disorder. Today, she runs her own private counseling practice for adolescents, adult women, and families. She has been in the field of social work for over 20 years, having started as a technician on the Eating Disorder Unit at Baptist Lutheran Hospital. From there, she moved to the Women and Children’s Unit at Northstar, working in substance abuse recovery. After earning her Master’s in Social Work, she worked in the Olathe school system. She co-founded Kansas City’s first and only transitional living program for women with eating disorders, wrote  Hungry To Be Whole: A Therapist Story of Healing from Anorexia, and served on the board of REbel. About Amy Sullivan Amy Sullivan began helping individuals recover from eating disorders 25 years ago at a residential treatment center in Arizona. Since that time, she has supported adolescents and adults in recovery in a variety of settings. A Registered and Licensed Dietitian, she holds a Master’s degree in Counseling. This unique combination has allowed her to help hundreds of clients achieve recovery and gain freedom from disordered eating. Along with Brooke, she founded Kansas City’s first and only transitional living facility for eating disorder recovery. She also owned a private adolescent nutrition practice and is the Founder of an online support platform for adults struggling with emotional and binge eating. Kirsten Oelkla Kirsten Oelkla’s interest in eating disorders began over 24 years ago at the Menninger Clinic. There she developed and led Adult Inpatient, Adolescent Inpatient, Day Treatment, and Intensive Outpatient groups. She continued her passion in working with individuals with eating disorders and their families at the Baptist-Lutheran Medical Center Eating Disorder Program. For the past 14 years, she has provided individual, couples, and family therapy on an outpatient basis. She has served in organizations that bring awareness to eating disorder-related issues and currently serves on the Missouri Eating Disorder Association board (MOEDA). Join Dr. Michelle, Brooke, Amy, and Kirsten as they talk about:  Bellatore Recovery’s mission as an intensive outpatient and bridge program. The importance of being careful with words when speaking to someone about their healing journey. Breaking down the statistics of eating disorders and who is experiencing it the most. Why major life changes can create or re-create new struggles with food. The fact that most of the population is dealing with some sort of body image disorder. Differences between anorexia and bulimia. What guidance they can give to parents to help them talk to their children about mental health and food. How we can talk to ourselves about what foods are not serving our bodies and minds. Steps you can take to be more mindful about what you are eating and what nutrients you need. Exploring where we’ve gotten off track with our body image expectations and the impact of social media.  Mentioned In This Episode   12: Brooke Wesley – What is Healthy Body Image and How to Live It Bellatore Recovery  Hungry to be Whole, A Therapist story of Healing from Anorexia by Brooke Wesley  Wellness On A Shoestring  by Dr. Michelle Robin SCBS Sleep Campaign Your Wellness Connection SCBS 40 Days of Gratitude SCBS 31-Day Kindness Campaign Big Shifts Foundation CommunityAmerica Credit Union AdventHealth  Connect with Bellatore Recovery via:  Facebook Instagram 

About Bellatore Recovery The <a href="https://bellatorerecovery.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bellatore Recovery</a> philosophy is grounded in connection. Their founders are all native Kansans, connected as personal friends and colleagues for over 15 years. Throughout their years treating eating disorders, they’ve consistently seen that building truthful connections with your own courage, your own beauty, and your own people lets you: <ul> <li>Make peace with yourself</li> <li>Tap into your true unique strengths</li> <li>Find lasting recovery from eating disorders</li> </ul> About Brooke Wesley Brooke’s desire to help individuals struggling with and recovering from eating disorders began shortly after she recovered from her own eating disorder. Today, she runs her own private counseling practice for adolescents, adult women, and families. She has been in the field of social work for over 20 years, having started as a technician on the Eating Disorder Unit at Baptist Lutheran Hospital. From there, she moved to the Women and Children’s Unit at Northstar, working in substance abuse recovery. After earning her Master’s in Social Work, she worked in the Olathe school system. She co-founded Kansas City’s first and only transitional living program for women with eating disorders, wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIIKBI2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Hungry To Be Whole: A Therapist Story of Healing from Anorexia</a>, and served on the board of REbel. About Amy Sullivan Amy Sullivan began helping individuals recover from eating disorders 25 years ago at a residential treatment center in Arizona. Since that time, she has supported adolescents and adults in recovery in a variety of settings. A Registered and Licensed Dietitian, she holds a Master’s degree in Counseling. This unique combination has allowed her to help hundreds of clients achieve recovery and gain freedom from disordered eating. Along with Brooke, she founded Kansas City’s first and only transitional living facility for eating disorder recovery. She also owned a private adolescent nutrition practice and is the Founder of an online support platform for adults struggling with emotional and binge eating. Kirsten Oelkla Kirsten Oelkla’s interest in eating disorders began over 24 years ago at the Menninger Clinic. There she developed and led Adult Inpatient, Adolescent Inpatient, Day Treatment, and Intensive Outpatient groups. She continued her passion in working with individuals with eating disorders and their families at the Baptist-Lutheran Medical Center Eating Disorder Program. For the past 14 years, she has provided individual, couples, and family therapy on an outpatient basis. She has served in organizations that bring awareness to eating disorder-related issues and currently serves on the Missouri Eating Disorder Association board (MOEDA). Join Dr. Michelle, Brooke, Amy, and Kirsten as they talk about: <ul> <li><a href="https://bellatorerecovery.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bellatore Recovery’s mission</a> as an intensive outpatient and bridge program.</li> <li>The importance of being careful with words when speaking to someone about their healing journey.</li> <li>Breaking down the statistics of eating disorders and who is experiencing it the most.</li> <li>Why major life changes can create or re-create new struggles with food.</li> <li>The fact that most of the population is dealing with some sort of body image disorder.</li> <li>Differences between anorexia and bulimia.</li> <li>What guidance they can give to parents to help them talk to their children about mental health and food.</li> <li>How we can talk to ourselves about what foods are not serving our bodies and minds.</li> <li>Steps you can take to be more mindful about what you are eating and what nutrients you need.</li> <li>Exploring where we’ve gotten off track with our body image expectations and the impact of social media.</li> </ul> Mentioned In This Episode <ul> <li><a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/episode-012-brooke-wesley-what-is-healthy-body-image-how-to-live-it/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> 12: Brooke Wesley – What is Healthy Body Image and How to Live It</a></li> <li><a href="https://bellatorerecovery.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bellatore Recovery</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIIKBI2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Hungry to be Whole, A Therapist story of Healing from Anorexia by Brooke Wesley</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/product/wellness-on-a-shoestring/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Wellness On A Shoestring</a> <a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/product/wellness-on-a-shoestring/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> by Dr. Michelle Robin</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/sleep/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SCBS Sleep Campaign</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.yourwellnessconnection.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Your Wellness Connection</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/gratitude/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SCBS 40 Days of Gratitude</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.smallchangesbigshifts.com/kindness/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SCBS 31-Day Kindness Campaign</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bigshifts.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Shifts Foundation</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.communityamerica.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CommunityAmerica Credit Union</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.adventhealth.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AdventHealth</a></li> </ul> Connect with Bellatore Recovery via: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BellatoreRecovery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bellatorerecovery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li> </ul>

Brooke Wesley, Amy Sullivan and Kirsten Oelklaus

Kirsten Oelklaus specializes in treatment for teens and adults with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and emotional eating. In the field for more than 23 years, she offers insight to  disordered eating, some of the challenges people face with anorexia and/or bulimia, and how to recover. Just like everything in life, recovery is a process. I have been very open throughout my sobriety about other issues I have struggled with, and food is definitely one of them for me. In this episode, I talk with Kirsten about some of the similarities in the recovery process between substance abuse and eating disorders, and the challenges I have faced in my personal life with eating, shame, and weight. As an addicted person, I have to always be aware of compulsive behaviors because I have a tendency to be compulsive and I can overdo almost anything. These last few years I have found myself in a battle with food, not only physically with some weight gain, but mentally suffering with the shame of being out of control with food and using it as a means to comfort myself. I isolate with food so no one will know how or what I am eating, or how much. For me, the first thing I noticed was I gained weight and I was having a hard time losing it. I have fluctuated weight a little bit my whole life- nothing drastic, maybe 5-7 pounds here and there, and it was always easy for me to reel myself in and lose the weight quickly and easily. But not this time. I found myself a little depressed and feeling bad about myself. I noticed that different foods would affect my mood and my energy, and I continued to eat poorly and gain weight. I felt disgusting, out of control, and awful. For the past two years I have started almost every day in tears. Standing in my closet searching for something to wear among racks of clothing that no longer fit. Every day I was getting more sad and angry and resentful at myself. Finally, I had to take action. I signed up for a program that taught me about food and how to balance meals and eat regularly. I first had to change my mindset to not focus on how I looked, but to focus on how I felt. I know when I eat certain foods I don’t feel good, and other foods make me tired. I started to cut out those things. At this point, I am happy to say I have developed a healthier understanding of food. And this made me so excited to do this interview with Kirsten. I wanted to learn more about myself and my struggles, and of course I want to help others do the same. There are moments in this interview that Kirsten breaks things down where it feels like she has seen my life and my habits, and she knows what I am battling. And for me, I know I’m not alone. My journey continues, let me know if you relate to some of this, too.

Kirsten Oelklaus specializes in treatment for teens and adults with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and emotional eating. In the field for more than 23 years, she offers insight to  disordered eating, some of the challenges people face with anorexia and/or bulimia, and how to recover. Just like everything in life, recovery is a process. I have been very open throughout my sobriety about other issues I have struggled with, and food is definitely one of them for me. In this episode, I talk with Kirsten about some of the similarities in the recovery process between substance abuse and eating disorders, and the challenges I have faced in my personal life with eating, shame, and weight. As an addicted person, I have to always be aware of compulsive behaviors because I have a tendency to be compulsive and I can overdo almost anything. These last few years I have found myself in a battle with food, not only physically with some weight gain, but mentally suffering with the shame of being out of control with food and using it as a means to comfort myself. I isolate with food so no one will know how or what I am eating, or how much. For me, the first thing I noticed was I gained weight and I was having a hard time losing it. I have fluctuated weight a little bit my whole life- nothing drastic, maybe 5-7 pounds here and there, and it was always easy for me to reel myself in and lose the weight quickly and easily. But not this time. I found myself a little depressed and feeling bad about myself. I noticed that different foods would affect my mood and my energy, and I continued to eat poorly and gain weight. I felt disgusting, out of control, and awful. For the past two years I have started almost every day in tears. Standing in my closet searching for something to wear among racks of clothing that no longer fit. Every day I was getting more sad and angry and resentful at myself. Finally, I had to take action. I signed up for a program that taught me about food and how to balance meals and eat regularly. I first had to change my mindset to not focus on how I looked, but to focus on how I felt. I know when I eat certain foods I don’t feel good, and other foods make me tired. I started to cut out those things. At this point, I am happy to say I have developed a healthier understanding of food. And this made me so excited to do this interview with Kirsten. I wanted to learn more about myself and my struggles, and of course I want to help others do the same. There are moments in this interview that Kirsten breaks things down where it feels like she has seen my life and my habits, and she knows what I am battling. And for me, I know I’m not alone. My journey continues, let me know if you relate to some of this, too.

#23 Anorexia, Bulimia, and Eating Disorder Treatment with Kirsten Oelklaus