The Weight We Inherit: Dieting and Disordered Eating as Intergenerational Trauma with Therapists Ashley Wilfore and Sarah Louer

Therapists Ashley Wilfore and Sarah Louer know what it's like to have dieting and body shame passed down to you like a family heirloom. We discuss what it means to experience intergenerational trauma, how disordered eating and body hatred get inherited and perpetuated through family values and behaviors, and what it's like to grow up surrounded by diet culture in your home. Ashley and Sarah and speak with honesty, compassion, and humor about their experiences letting go of the pursuit of thinness, and trying to raise their own children while being cycle-breakers.

Tune in to hear more about:

- What’s on their plates (hint: foods to eat when you're sick, and an ode to eggplant...)

- A clinical and personal definition of “intergenerational trauma”

- Being impacted by generational passing down of dieting and body shame

- How the idea that starving yourself is power has been believed by their family members who were otherwise independent-minded and strong 

- Specific moments and vivid memories from childhood that form beliefs today

- Overhearing the women they looked up to talking about their own bodies

- The moments they realized they couldn’t keep dieting and over-exercising 

- The intentional decisions they made as mothers when it comes to food and body talk

- How they handle their parents' anti-fat bias today

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Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

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More About Ashley:

Ashley is a wife, a mom of two boys and a clinician. She has her master's in science in forensic psychology and is working on her second advanced degree in social work. She specializes in working with people with IDD and complex needs, but really enjoys talking and working with people who have experienced family trauma and supporting others to break out of social norms.

More About Sarah:

Sarah is a 54-year-old mother of four living in Vermont, working in New York. She's a licensed clinical social worker, an avid traveler, foodie, and a recovering disorder dieter. She's passionate about human rights for all, and a rectal cancer survivor. She loves Costa Rica, the ocean, and craft cocktails.