Episode 249: Clinician's Corner - Understanding the Fawn Response
Release Date: 10/03/2025
Episode 261: Real Food Recovery: Holistic Healing, Harm Reduction & Building Lifelong Recovery Roots with Jamie Reno and Paige Alexander
Food Junkies Podcast
In this episode, Paige and Jamie from Real Food Recovery join us to explore the powerful intersection of holistic health, nervous system regulation, and long-term recovery from ultra-processed food addiction. They share why they wrote their book, the four core branches that anchor recovery, and why recovery isn’t about perfection—it’s about resilience, compassion, and sustainable support systems that hold us when life falls apart. With honesty and courage, Jamie shares her story of leaving an abusive relationship and navigating destabilization while protecting her recovery....
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Episode 260: Healing Trauma, Shame, and Food Addiction through the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model with Jan Winhall
Food Junkies Podcast
Jan Winhall is a psychotherapist, author, educator, and the developer of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model (FSPM), a groundbreaking framework that integrates trauma therapy, polyvagal theory, and embodied focusing to understand and treat addiction and trauma. Over more than four decades of clinical work, Jan has specialized in supporting survivors of sexual violence, complex trauma, and addiction with a deeply de-pathologizing, feminist, and body-based lens. She is the founder of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Institute, teaches internationally, and collaborates closely with leaders in the...
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Episode 259: Dr. Carrie Wilkens, PhD on Rethinking Addiction Without Shame
Food Junkies Podcast
In this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, Clarissa and Molly sit down with psychologist Dr. Carrie Wilkens to unpack what it really means to help people change without shame, stigma, or power struggles. Drawing from decades of work in substance use, eating disorders, trauma, and family systems, Carrie invites us to rethink “denial,” “relapse,” “codependency,” and even the disease model itself, while still honoring the seriousness of addiction and the depth of people’s pain. Together, we explore how self-compassion, curiosity, and values-based behavior change can transform not...
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Episode 258: Clinician’s Corner – Holidays Edition: Boundaries, Nervous Systems & the Hella-Days
Food Junkies Podcast
In this Clinician’s Corner episode, Clarissa and Molly dive into what they lovingly (and accurately) call the “Hella-Days”—that stretch from early fall through New Year’s where routines disappear, food is everywhere, emotions are high, and nervous systems are fried. Together, they unpack why this season is so activating for people with food addiction and nervous system sensitivity, and how to navigate it with values, boundaries, and a whole lot of self-compassion—whether you’re surrounded by family or spending the holidays on your own. In This Episode Clarissa & Molly...
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Episode 257: Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO - Cancer, UPFs, and Metabolic Healing
Food Junkies Podcast
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Episode 256: Dr. Erica LaFata - Diagnosing Ultra-Processed Food Addiction with FASI
Food Junkies Podcast
On this episode of the Food Junkies Podcast, we welcome back Dr. Erica LaFata to dive into her groundbreaking work developing the Food Addiction Severity Interview (FASI) — a clinician-administered diagnostic tool modeled after the SCID alcohol use disorder module and adapted for ultra-processed foods. Building on self-report tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and mYFAS, Erica explains why the field urgently needs a structured clinical interview to validate ultra-processed food addiction as a distinct psychiatric presentation and move toward formal recognition in the DSM....
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Episode 255: Challenging the Naysayers with Dr. Nicole Avena
Food Junkies Podcast
In this powerful episode, Dr. Vera Tarman and Clarissa Kennedy welcome back Dr. Nicole Avena, one of the first researchers to scientifically validate the concept of food addiction. Together, they unpack the latest critiques of food addiction and explore why this diagnosis is still being challenged – and why the science strongly supports it. 🔍 Key Questions We Tackled Is food addiction “too broad” to be useful? Can we really rely on self-report tools like the Yale Food Addiction Scale? What about brain imaging – doesn’t Kevin Hall’s PET study “disprove” food addiction? Are...
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Food Junkies Podcast
C J shares a moving conversation with Ashley Elizabeth, a woman whose honesty and courage shine through her recovery journey. Ashley is remarkably open about her experience with food addiction and the lifelong impact of being put on a diet at a very young age. Like so many, she spent years trapped in the cycle of obsession, shame, and the constant search for control, returning to foods she didn’t even like just to get her fix. When Ashley first entered a 12-step program, she approached her food plan like another diet, and for a while, it worked. But true transformation came when she embraced...
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Episode 254: Dr. Paul O'Malley
Food Junkies Podcast
Dr. Paul O’Malley is a Los Angeles-based dentist who’s redefining what it means to care for your teeth—and your whole body. With more than 30 years of experience, Dr. O’Malley specializes in biomimetic and holistic dentistry, which basically means he works with your body, not against it. His focus is on preserving your natural tooth structure, using biocompatible materials, and avoiding the “drill and fill” mindset that leaves so many people anxious about the dentist’s chair. He earned his DDS from Creighton University and completed a residency at Baylor University, but what...
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Episode 253: Clinician's Corner - From Rules to Guardrails: Rewriting the Manual for Recovery
Food Junkies Podcast
Molly and Clarissa get real about the spoken and unspoken “rules” we inherit—from family, culture, religion, peers, and recovery spaces—and how those rules can quietly run our lives. They explore when structure is protective (especially early recovery) and when rigidity shrinks our world. The invitation: notice the rule, name whose voice it is, examine its intention, and rewrite it as a flexible, values-aligned boundary (a loving guardrail) that serves your recovery today. What we cover Invisible operating systems: How covert rules (“Don’t cry in public,” “Finish your plate,”...
info_outlineIn this episode, Molly Painschab and Clarissa Kennedy reconnect after three transformative weeks together—first in London for the International Food Addiction and Comorbidities Conference, then exploring the magic of Scotland. From castles and waterfalls to ancient standing stones, they share the joy of work, play, and community in recovery.
But the heart of today’s conversation is the fawn response—a trauma survival strategy often misunderstood as “people pleasing.” Drawing on their own stories and professional experiences, Molly and Clarissa explore how fawning develops, why it feels so challenging to change, and how it manifests in recovery and relationships.
What We Talk About
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Fawning explained: Why it’s more than people pleasing and how it functions as a survival strategy.
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Personal stories: Growing up in emotionally immature households, learning to appease, and the impact on identity and relationships.
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Adaptive vs. maladaptive fawning: When appeasement helps us survive—and when it harms us.
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Symptoms and signs: From difficulty saying no, over-apologizing, and hypervigilance to identity loss and emotional exhaustion.
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Why fawning is reinforced: Cultural, gender, and relational factors that reward compliance at the cost of selfhood.
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Professional insights: What clinicians and helpers need to know about clients who fawn—including vulnerability to relapse, self-neglect, and difficulty with boundaries.
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Pathways to healing: Building awareness, practicing small boundaries, parts work, somatic tools, and self-compassion as antidotes to shame.
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Grief and growth: Naming the loss that comes with shifting out of fawning while also reclaiming voice, choice, and authenticity.
Invitation for Listeners
This week, reflect on a time you said “yes” when you truly wanted to say “no.” What small, safe boundary might you practice instead? Notice how your body responds, and give yourself permission to honor your needs—one step at a time.
✨ Resources Mentioned
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Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson
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Sweet Sobriety Membership & Groups: www.sweetsobriety.ca
💌 Email Us: foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com
The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcareprovider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition,substance use disorder, or mental health concern.