TuTu Thin: A Podcast for Dancers | Be a healthy dancer/athlete in mind, body and spirit.

The TuTu Thin Podcast will explore the complex relationship between dancers, athletes, their body and eating disorders, explaining how eating disorders can too easily develop in this driven, perfectionistic yet vulnerable population. TuTu Thin also explores the relationship between the dancer/athlete and the drive for perfection. How can the dancer/athlete develop healthy eating patterns in a world where there is expectation to have a strong, yet thin body. How can the dance teacher, choreographers, coaches and parents identify who may be struggling with an eating disorder? Coaches and dance teachers can promote healthy body image, but what is their responsibility if a dancer/athlete is exhibiting signs of having an eating disorder? Both prevention and treatment of eating disorders for the dancer/athlete are examined as well as how to return them back to their passion for dance or their sport. There will also be interviews with dancers, athletes, and those who work with them to promote wellness in mind, body and spirit.

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TuTu Thin: A Podcast for Dancers | Be a healthy dancer/athlete in mind, body and spirit.

Former ballerina, Sasha Gorrell, PhD talks about her research with dancers and eating disorders

August 31, 2023 • Dawn Smith-Theodore, MA, MFT, CEDS • Season 2 • Episode 5

0:00 | 42:09

On this week's installment of the Tu Tu Thin Podcast, I have Sasha Gorrell, PhD joining me!

Sasha Gorrell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Her position is within the Eating
Disorders Program where her clinical focus is in the treatment of adolescents with restrictive eating disorders, specifically in supporting their recovery in family-based treatment. She had an 18-year career as a professional dancer with Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, which informs her current efforts to support the wellbeing of young dancers, and prevent the development of eating disorders in this high-risk population. In addition, her current research that is funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health uses behavioral data and neuro-imaging to investigate specific neurobiological risk and maintenance factors for problematic exercise
behavior in the context of eating disorders. Her overall research interests include exploration of bio behavioral mechanisms that promote our understanding of motivated behavior. This work includes better characterizing maintenance mechanisms and shared features of anxiety and eating disorders, and using this knowledge to adapt and develop evidence-based treatments.

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Thank you to Matt Miller @ Smacky Media Group

Dawn Smith-Theodore, MA, MFT, CEDS

Host