Episode 4: Emotional Eating and COVID-19 with Dr. Heather Gallivan

Everywhere in the world, food brings people together. With restaurants closing and limited gatherings, COVID-19 has significantly changed the way that we interact with food and with each other. It has also affected, and maybe exaggerated, how we personally relate to food. 

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Heather Gallivan, Clinical Director of the Melrose Center. Dr. Gallivan shares how COVID-19 has impacted our relationship with food. She also provides practical tips for working toward a healthier relationship with food. 

This episode isn’t just about COVID; it’s about our relationships with food in general. So take a listen to understand your relationship with food and how it relates to your emotional wellbeing.

Key takeaways

• A little background about her work
• The impact of COVID-19 on people’s eating habits
• Difference between an eating disorder and an unhealthy relationship with food
• How to change your self-talk around food
• What can help change those undesirable habits around food mentally
• Her thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on people’s ability to gather and celebrate
• What a healthy relationship with food looks like
• First steps you can do to change your relationship with food during this time
• What to do with your emotional attachment to food
• How to know when to seek help
• How different eating disorders develop and how they differ from one another
• How food disparity and food scarcity affects people’s relationship with food
• How to work through food scarcity
• Resources for those who struggle with their relationship with food

 
Links

• Melrose Center - https://www.healthpartners.com/care/specialty-centers/melrose-center/
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) - https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

Dr. Heather Gallivan Bio

Dr. Heather Gallivan is Clinical Director of Melrose Center. For more than a decade she has specialized in helping patients who have weight and eating problems. She is passionate about preventing eating disorders through education. And she says it’s key to inform people about how mass media and social messages affect our attitudes about body image and weight. Before joining Melrose Center, Dr. Gallivan served 5 years in the United States Navy as an active duty psychologist. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, traveling, cooking and photography.