When Weight Matters Blog

Sometimes you just have to have faith that one day your vision will come to fruition. For over twelve years I have wanted to work with a multidisciplinary team who understand the challenges of managing obesity. I have wanted to work in a space where people can feel cared for, supported, and know that they will not be judged or shamed for having str...

Food as a joyous experience

 It is rare that a social event in my life happens without food and or drink. My family gatherings always revolve around sharing a meal or a catch-up over a coffee. When I catch up with friends we tend to meet for coffee, breakfast lunch or dinner. When we have dinner parties they are festive occasions. Sometimes we have a theme that explores ...

 I am so excited and happy to finally inform you that the binge eating group Hapifed, founded by my colleagues at the University of Sydney and Western Sydney University, have a lovely new home. Like all searches for a new home, it can take quite a while to find the right place that feels welcoming, accessible and philosophically aligned and we...

A light bulb idea! Sometimes support can make a real difference.

                                        Sometimes Support Can Make A World Of Difference Have you ever felt totally alone trying to manage a health condition or your mental health?Then, one day you stumble upon a network of support and compassio...

I'm Listening

The complexities of being human in all its glory and fragility, impacts us hugely when talking about weight loss and weight management. There is an amazing amount of research being conducted about the science of weight management, the medical, physical, genetic and scientific side for which I am incredibly grateful. There are many factors that I ha...

What Does Needing To Go To The Bathroom Have In Common With Being Hungry?

Having worked with hundreds of people struggling with their weight, something that comes up time and time again is a fear of being hungry. People tell me they associate hunger with weight gain and therefore either consciously or unconsciously they have learnt to ignore their feelings of hunger until they do not recognise the signals, or, they ...

Have you ever shared a concern, a worry or a story and been left feeling even more misunderstood, confused and, or frustrated than before you spoke? Perhaps you didn't feel you had been properly heard? Imagine you finally summon the courage to share your story and it is not received or heard the way you had hoped. No worry or story is too big or to...

It's just a paper cut, a teeny-weeny paper cut, but boy it hurts. It stings, and each day it is a surprise how something so small almost invisible can be so painful. But even small injuries can still have major impacts on ones wellbeing. It can hurt like this when comments are made about someone's weight. The comment may have been made with good in...

​I want to talk about a type of loss that isn't weight loss and yet it is profoundly linked to weight loss. It is the feeling of loss that people may experience when they once had lost significant amounts of weight, subsequently regained it often ending up with even more excess weight than their original weight. It is a loss of the loss if this mak...

What if your weight gain or weight loss has nothing to do with what you do eat, don't eat, want to eat, can eat, can't eat? Or, has everything to do with those things? But these reasons have nothing to do with intent or choice.What if there are many reasons outside of the food and eating discussion that is impacting on your weight?The weight loss a...

What you have to say is as important as what I have to offer. While I am knowledgeable in the field of weight management, my clients are the experts of their internal worlds. Rarely spoken about in weight loss programs are the individual's feelings of loss frustration and despair that can accompany weight issues. Sometimes this presents as a palpab...

 I really feel for anyone caught in the middle of this ideological, physical and emotional conflict. Lets say that for whatever reason you have decided you would like to lose some weight. And, you have decided this for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with image or vanity. Sure you may also feel you would like to fit in to your cloth...

As the weather starts to warm up, I brace myself for the endless advertisements urging people to get ready for a beach body, or to go on a spring clean detox. A detox that I think is a bit of an insult to the mighty liver and kidneys that do it 24/7 all year round all by themselves without the aid an expensive tonic full of ingredients we may or ma...

The idea that counselling will unravel the "root cause" of ones core issues, or will unearth the "underlying issue" somewhat troubles me. As a practicing counsellor and psychotherapist of many years, I worry that this sentiment over simplifies the complex nature of being human.These ideas run the risk of clients feeling frustrated, and more worryin...

My life as a saxophone player in a rock and roll band and what is has to do with my work as a counsellor and Psychotherapist. It wasn't long ago that I was a saxophone player in a band. Playing in bands is something I have done my whole adult life. It is something that I absolutely love and am extremely passionate about and if I am not playing I lo...

One of my first jobs after leaving school was working in a bookshop. I look back on those days and it reminds me of how dangerous it is to make assumptions about people. I had a fertile imagination and I noticed within the five or ten minutes of an interaction with a customer I had made all sorts of assumptions. For example a lady may have put out ...

Self-compassion seems a bit like a buzzword these days. And buzzwords at times can feel a bit meaningless if they don't feel appropriate or relevant. It is as if they are inserted into conversations a bit randomly.I've been reflecting on the practice of self-compassion in the context of weight management, and I think it could be very useful for our...

Books that are written by people who have had successful weight loss often frustrate me. They frustrate me because the books often get promoted and sold to billions of vulnerable people with weight issues with the implications that the author "knows" or has found the holy grail, the solution, or the "way" to successful weight loss. And, if they are...

I have been a counsellor/ psychotherapist and coach specialising in the field of weight management for many years. Sometimes clients come to see me about weight loss, sometimes it is about weight gain and sometimes it is about long-term weight maintenance. Sometimes weight issues brought them for their initial appointment but bubbling underneath th...

"Why well meaning comments and advice generally backfires when someone is tying to manage their weight."Scenarios like these play out over and over again in households across the country. Scenarios that seem innocent enough at face value, actually wreak havoc on peoples' emotional wellbeing, damage relationships, and have the potential to make peop...