Today I’m talking to Ilene Smith, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) whose work is rooted in the principles of attachment theory and eastern philosophies. Ilene integrates several modalities into her practice, including talking, touch-work, and movement, to help clients develop deeper and safer relationships within, and increased capacities for resilience and joy.
Ilene is the author of ‘Moving Beyond Trauma: The Roadmap to Healing from Your Past and Living with Ease and Vitality’, (Lioncrest, 2020), an Amazon Bestseller that shows readers how to bring the body into the trauma healing process. Her writing on psychology and wellness has appeared in Mind, Body, Green, Spirituality and Health, PsychCentral, Project HEAL, and Brooke Burke’s ModernMom. She holds master’s degrees in Mental Health Counselling and Exercise Physiology, is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) through the GROW Training Institute, and completed the three-year training program with the Somatic Experiencing Institute founded by Peter Levine. In addition to her private practice, Ilene offers workshops on trauma-healing and conducts research on Somatic Experiencing for eating disorder treatment. She makes her home in Arizona and loves to travel, collect art, cycle, and practice yoga in her spare time.
In this episode, we explore how Ilene came to work in eating disorders and her personal journey into trauma focused work. Ilene explains about treating eating disorders from the ‘bottom up’, working on the deeper issues rather than symptoms only, this being a part in recovery that is often overlooked. She talks about how eating disorders give short-term relief from emotional pain, but these maladaptive coping strategies lead to a vicious cycle of shame and disappointment, which is challenging to escape from. She introduces skills and practices to begin to heal trauma and to restore the nervous system again, for sustainable eating disorder recovery. I hope that you enjoy the conversation.
To find out more about Ilene:-
Website: https://ilenesmith.com/
Instagram: @ilenesmithhealing
Eating Disorder Recovery, Disney Princesses and How We Diet Like We Date, with Toni Marinucci
Dealing with the Root of Eating Disorder Recovery, Healing the Gut and Self-Soothing, with Mindy Gorman-Plutzer
Trauma, Health at Every Size and Supporting Black Women with Eating Disorders, with Dr. Carolyn Coker-Ross
Can a Self-Help Book Heal Disordered Eating?
Healing, Recovery Tools and Finding your True Voice, with Emmy Brunner
Bulimia Recovery, Breaking Habits and Healing with Jacqueline Davis
16 Ways to Actually Love Yourself (When you Have No Idea Where to Begin)
Intuition, Empathy, Psychic Ability and Healing with Katie Beecher
It's LIVE! The Eating Disorder Therapist Book Club
Entering Treatment in your 40’s, Atypical Anorexia Nervosa and Taekwondo, with Melanie Gibson
Supporting Adolescents and Children with Eating Disorders and Post-Baby Body Image, with Dr. Chloe Bedford
It's Never Too Late to Recover from an Eating Disorder, with Caroline Drummond-Smith
Eating Disorder Recovery and the Incredible Work of The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness
How to Feel Good Enough and Heal Yourself with Marisa Peer
Eating Disorder Recovery with Angela Rawlinson
It's Not About Food, it's About Feelings
When You’ve Overcome Symptoms but Eating Disorder Thoughts Linger, with Rachelle Heinemann
Healing, Intuition and Barriers to Intuitive Eating with Ariana Rodriguez (Embody Health London)
Eating Disorders in Men and New Book 'Starvation' with Molly Fennig
When you Don't Feel 'Enough' and 3 Tips to Change This
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Your Sleep Guru Podcast
Anxiety Slayer™ with Shann and Ananga
Men Do Talk Podcast
The Dr. John Delony Show
Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris