Share
))
HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons hosts the most downloaded sports podcast of all time, with a rotating crew of celebrities, athletes, and media staples, as well as mainstays like Cousin Sal, Joe House, and a slew of other friends and family members who always happen to be suspiciously available.
…
continue reading
Manage episode 521811381 series 2901061
Content provided by Anita Sandoval. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Anita Sandoval or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.
What was your biggest Takeaway from this Episode! I would Love to hear from you!
What if your “little food problem” — the restriction, bingeing, or rigid food rules — is actually your nervous system trying to survive?
In this powerful conversation, I’m joined by Marnie Davis, LMHC, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Consultant, Certified EMDR Therapist, EMDRIA-Approved Consultant, and HAES®-aligned clinician.
Together, we explore the hidden link between people pleasing, trauma, neurodivergence, and eating disorders — and why so many women, clinicians, and families completely miss what’s really happening beneath the surface.
This is a compassionate, non-shaming, neurodivergent-affirming episode that reframes eating disorders from “What’s wrong with me?” to “What happened to me, and how did my system try to keep me alive?”
⚠️ Content Note: We discuss eating disorders, body image, trauma, dissociation, and co-occurring mental health struggles. Please listen with care and take breaks as needed.
✨ In This Episode, We Explore:
- How, from a trauma lens, eating disorders are maladaptive coping strategies that once made sense to your system
- The impact of attachment injuries, perfectionism, and people-pleasing on food, body image, and control
- Why eating disorders are not about vanity or willpower, but about safety, power, and relief from overwhelming sensations and emotions
- The role of culture, family rules, and “finish your plate” messages in shaping food beliefs
- How neurodivergent brains (ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities) can be especially vulnerable to disordered eating
- Why one person dies every hour from an eating disorder and why a comprehensive medical + therapeutic team is crucial
- What healing can look like: becoming more self-led, value-driven, and authentically you
👤 Connect with Our Guest: Marnie Davis, LMHC, CEDS
Website:
🔗 www.MarnieDavisLMHC.com
Email:
📩 [email protected]
LinkedIn:
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/marnie-davis-lmhc-ceds-c-33187b45/Instagram:
🔗 @marniedavislmhcFacebook:
🔗 MarnieDavisLMHC
🔗 Davis Counseling and Consulting
🌿 Connect with Your Host, Anita Sandoval, MA, LPC-S
🔗 All My Links & Resources:
Start here for everything: podcast, free tools, courses, communities & more.
👉 https://www.anitasandoval.com/empowerher/links
🎧 Listen on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:
Find Empowering Women in Conversations on all major podcast directories.
👉 https://www.anitasandoval.com/podcast-directories
💌 If This Episode Spoke To You…
- Share it with a friend, client, or loved one who struggles with food, people pleasing, or feeling “never enough.”
- Subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations on people pleasing, boundaries, trauma, neurodivergence, and empowered living.
- Take a quiet moment after listening to ask yourself:
“If my eating, my people-pleasing, and my burnout are all parts of me trying to keep me safe… what would it look like to meet them with kindness instead of shame?”
You’re not broken. You’re a system that learned how to survive. 🩷
Chapters
1. Teaser: “What if your eating disorder is your nervous system trying to survive?” (00:00:00)
2. Meet Marnie Davis: EMDR, eating disorders, IFS-informed, Brainspotting (00:01:18)
3. How Marnie’s own story led her into this work (00:02:26)
4. What is an eating disorder really… and what is it NOT? (00:07:42)
5. Food as self-soothing, protection, and a “positive feeling state” (00:10:25)
6. Culture, family rules, orthorexia & neurodivergent sensory needs (00:14:56)
7. Myth: “Eating disorders only affect thin, white, upper-class women” (00:18:00)
8. Myth: “It’s about food” & “It’s about vanity” — what’s actually underneath (00:19:41)
9. The deep overlap between people pleasing and eating behaviors (00:23:00)
10. Parts work / IFS: manager parts, protectors, exiles & survival (00:27:20)
11. The “orchestra” metaphor: letting your wise, adult self lead (00:31:00)
12. What healing begins to look like: authenticity, values, and self-leadership (00:33:00)
13. EMDR vs Brainspotting: how they work and how they complement each other (00:35:28)
14. One person dies every hour from an eating disorder: why a full treatment team matters (00:38:00)
15. Holidays, family, food, culture & how to protect your nervous system (00:42:08)
16. Neurodivergent brains, sensory overwhelm, and grounding tools (00:45:28)
17. Marnie’s definition of an empowered woman (00:49:19)
18. Kindness as legacy: what she’d tell future generations (00:51:00)
19. Meet Charlie, the anxious Yorkie and honorary therapy co-host 🐶 (00:52:02)
20. Closing: “It’s okay to be you. Keep walking your empowered, authentic path.” (00:53:50)
32 episodes
