Vanessa is a counsellor and psychotherapist registered with the Australian Counselling Association. She has lived experience and takes a compassionate and curious approach to working with clients with a focus on addiction, complex trauma and the intergenerational nature of trauma. Vanessa’s special area is food addiction, because that was the first addiction that forced her into recovery. Her approach is trauma-informed, person-centred and informed by Internal Family Systems. Vanessa has an MA in Counselling (UNE), is a certified food addiction counsellor (INFACT), and has undertaken a range of trainings specific to Internal Family Systems. Vanessa’s work is influenced by her own recovery journey, and underpinned by the principle of “do your own work”, which means Vanessa is engaged in her own weekly IFS therapy and draws on somatic and other healing modalities. In this episode: Vanessa shares her personal recovery story and her AHA moment How this merged into her working in the field of Food Addiction How trauma can contribute to food addiction The differences between PTSD, complex trauma, attachment trauma and relational trauma and why working on our trauma can be important for our food addiction recovery. What the Internal Family Systems Model treatment modality is and what makes it unique Who is a good fit for this type of treatment and some of the actionable tools listeners can employ   How what she believed early on in her career has now changed  Her  Vanessa shares her own personal journey of recovery and how that has shaped the professional work today Follow Vanessa: https://www.vanessakredler.com Special Announcement From Sweet Sobriety Sweet Sobriety is excited to announce our next monthly workshop topic Emotional Eating that will be hosted by the one and only Molly Painschab! Emotional Eating is incredibly common – IN FACT research shows that 75% of our eating is emotionally driven. We know that emotional eating also plays a role in Food Addiction and Disordered Eating so we have some incredible new tools to teach you to help with emotional intelligence and emotional regulation when it comes to working on the behaviour of using food to soothe. Do you: Eat to suppress or sooth emotions, fatigue, or health problems Eat to manage major life events or the hassles of daily life Eat in response to relationship conflicts, work stressors, or financial pressures Have you been concerned that emotional eating is keeping you from living your best life? Molly Painschab, LCPC, LAC, co-host of the Food Junkies Podcast and co-founder of Sweet Sobriety is excited to offer you a comprehensive workshop on how to recover from Emotional Eating. Over 4 weeks you will: Learn the difference between physical and emotional hunger Identify what type of Emotional Eater you are Increase your emotional agility Master self-care and self-compassion skills Improve your relationship with yourself using The Four Agreements What you get: Hours of pre-recorded videos (no expiration) Downloadable resources and suggested at home practices (no expiration) Four 1-hr live support sessions (one per week) with Replay (no expiration) $50USD Wednesdays March 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th at 2pm EST  The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider'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.