135: Beyond the Body: What Eating Disorders Are Really About With Pam Skop

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky talks with Pam Skop, LMHC, CEDS, and founder of EveryBody Psychotherapy NYC, about eating disorders, body image, and what recovery actually looks like once you get past the surface. Pam's own eating disorder went unnoticed through her teens and twenties, even in therapy, because no one ever asked her the right questions — an experience that now shapes how she trains therapists to check in about food and body with every client. Her central reframe: an eating disorder is not a weight disorder, and disordered eating usually isn't a problem to eliminate so much as a protector to understand.  Together, they work through what that looks like in practice — simple, non-shaming intake questions modeled on how clinicians already ask about sleep, the role of curiosity over advice-giving, and why "you look so healthy" can land as harder than helpful. The conversation moves through the cultural pressure driving harder relapses right now, from GLP-1 messaging to 15-second social media clips to the perinatal period and bounce-back culture. Pam shares what healing can look like using deeper somatic and IFS-informed work of reconnecting people to their bodies.  00:49 - Meet Pam Skop  02:53 - Pam's Personal Recovery Journey  05:19 - What Gets Missed, and How to Ask  10:23 - Redefining Recovery and Its Protective Roots  13:30 - Misconceptions About Bodies and Diagnosis  16:00 - Why This Cultural Moment Feels Harder  20:09 - What People Wish Others Understood  24:38 - Signs of Healing and Flexibility  26:01 - Somatic Work and Reconnecting to the Body  29:06 - Perinatal and Postpartum Body Image  36:42 - Nourishment and Resources for New Parents 39:02 - Building EveryBody Psychotherapy NYC 40:58 - Interns and the Next Generation of Therapists  46:24 - Taking Risks and a Message for Anyone Struggling  49:22 - Where to Find Pam Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Pam Skop:   Website: https://www.everybodypsychotherapynyc.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybodypsychotherapynyc/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everybodypsychotherapynyc/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaksandtranquilitytherapist/    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]