Voices of eXperience in Eating Disorders (VOXED)
This is a subtitle for your new post
Kel O’Neill is a UK-based counsellor, educator, researcher, and lived-experience advocate specialising in eating disorders. She is the founder of Mental Health Bites, creator of The Eating Disorder Recovery Companion, and the curator of VOXED – Voices of Experience in Eating Disorders. Kel’s work focuses on ethical, trauma-informed practice, challenging stigma, and bridging the gap between lived experience and professional knowledge.
This week, we discuss:
- What VoxED is and why Kel created it.
- Why eating disorder education often feels inaccessible, and what VoxED is doing differently.
- How VoxED broadens “lived experience” to include clinicians, carers, researchers and community voices.
- Why lived experience shouldn’t be tokenistic, and how it can be valued as expertise.
- Why the eating disorder field needs shared spaces for nuanced, difficult conversations.
- How recovery goes beyond food and weight to identity, meaning and living.
Timestamps:
- 00:00: What is VoxED?
- 02:10 : Where did the idea began (EDAW 2021)
- 05:10: Who's speaking at VoXED
- 06:40: Moving beyond “tick-box” lived experience
- 08:10: The purpose of VoxED: shared space + shared power
- 14:40: Why change has been slow in eating disorders (and what’s missing)
- 21:10: Recovery beyond food and weight: identity, meaning, and living
- 42:10: VoxED details: date, access, recordings, and low-cost tickets
VoxED conference details:
- Date: Friday 13th February
- Format: Fully online (9:00–18:30, with breaks)
- Tickets: self-select pricing options £20 / £37 / £50
Resources & Links
- Follow Kel on Instagram (@kel_mhb)
- Visit Kel's website (www.counsellingandtraining.co.uk) to find out more about VOXED
- Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
- Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
- Check out our website
- Listen on YouTube
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help us spread awareness.
Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛
Recent Posts
Exploring emotional eating, food guilt, and relationship with food through Joshua Hills’ story of growing up around anorexia and rebuilding a healthier approach.
Are eating disorders a form of addiction? Explore the overlap between eating disorders and addiction, including compulsive behaviours, shame, and recovery.
Families aren't the enemy in recovery, they're the answer
When Recovery Gets Complicated: Exercise, Neurodivergence, and Why the Lines Aren't Always Clear
If Recovery Still Tells People Not to Be Fat, Is It Really Recovery?
What is the eating disorder voice, and how do you know it’s not you?
