Envisioning Liberatory Care within Eating Disorder Treatment with Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall

Today we have Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall on the pod, a licensed eating disorder psychologist in California where we discuss anti-careral and liberatory eating disorder treatment. Jennie and Cassie explore the necessary shift to a more agentic and empowering form of eating disorder treatment. They unpack the ways in which traditional eating disorder treatment and mental health care can be carceral and paternalized. Jennie weaves together the web of systems into how she engages in her practice. 

Guest Bio

Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall is a licensed psychologist in California who has treated eating disorders at all levels of care since 2011. Jennie is passionate about community building and social justice education for providers looking to learn about liberatory care. Working in various treatment centers and teams with differing approaches, Dr. Wang-Hall has trained in a multitude of approaches and has witnessed the utility and futility of various modalities. These experiences have led her to an eclectic and client centered lens that facilitates empowerment and agency in ED recovery. Core to Dr. Wang-Hall’s approach is attunement to systems of oppression that manifest in both the development and treatment of eating disorders. She integrates attention to ableism, white supremacy, misogyny, cis heterosexism, capitalism, and settler colonialism in her care of individuals from all backgrounds struggling with eating disorders. Serving on the Board of Body Reborn is a profound privilege that represents Jennie's commitment to creating accessible, compassionate care for everyone.

In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 

• Jennie’s body story and her emphasis on lived and living experience
• How Jennie is challenging the pathologizing that exists within eating disorder treatment providers for those who continue to struggle, instead advancing a non-shaming and destigmatized space for providers
• How Jennie’s recovery transformed as she discussed collective liberation work
• Exploring and defining abolitionist care, psychiatric abolition, and how it applies to eating disorder treatment
• How systems of oppression manifest in how mental health providers are trained and how treatment is delivered within mental health care, specifically eating disorders
• How fears of liability within the mental health industrial complex lead to carceral treatment filled with ultimatums, contracts, and policing of symptoms
• The freedom and liberation that also is available to mental health providers within this shift in treatment
• The value of imagination, creativity, and envisioning care for liberation

Connect with Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall: 

• Website: https://revolutionaryedpsychotherapy.com/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.jenniewh/?hl=en
• Jennie’s Provider Solidarity Group: https://nq9hmnx5.paperform.co/ 

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