The Therapist & Client Relationship for Long-Lasting Recovery with Rachael Alder-Byrne & Clare Steedman

In this week's podcast, Han is joined by Clare Steedman and Rachael Alder-Byrne. Clare and Rachael are the CEO’s and founders of TEDS – The Eating Disorder Specialists.

Clare and Rachael's approach at TEDS allows them to see their clients as individuals with their own difficulties and recovery journey ahead of them, and use the client's past, present, and future to support clients in moving away from their eating disorder.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

  • How TEDS work with their clients to determine what recovery may look like for them, and how they tailor their work together to achieve this.

  • Changes that occur in recovery, and how a client's identity, motivations, and values which are centralised around their eating disorder need to be addressed in recovery with the support of a therapist.

  • The role of fear and the unknown in holding someone back from eating disorder recovery, and how this can be overcome by trying something different.

  • The development of new coping mechanisms rather than leaning into old behaviours, the importance of practice and patience to normalise novel, positive behaviours.

  • The psychotherapy tool EMDR and how this process can be used to help clients reprocess trauma that may be holding someone back from eating disorder recovery.

To find out more about Rachael and Clare and their work at TEDS, you can find them on social media @teds_edspecialist or visit https://edspecialists.co.uk/. You can also find the BEAT help finder mentioned in this podcast here: https://helpfinder.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/.

Please note that this podcast discusses eating disorder topics that some individuals may find triggering. Please check in with yourself along the way, and remember this is not a replacement for clinical support and advice.

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