VOXED – Voices of eXperience in Eating Disorders

VOXED 2026: Voices of Experience in Eating Disorders

A one day, fully online conference bringing together lived experience, research, practice, community insight, and creativity—on equal ground.

Hosted by Kel O’Neill

What to Expect:

• A New Kind of Eating Disorder Conference
  VOXED isn’t here to replicating what already exists. We’re building something deliberately different – puting accessibility, openness, and honest dialogue at the core.

  Expect panels, workshops, and creative sessions. You’ll hear from a wide range of voices: lived experience, research, and clinical practice – so that everyone can learn, question, and connect, not in competition but in conversation.

• Equal Voice, Open Dialogue
  Cost and credentials don’t define who belongs here. Whether you’re an eating-disorder specialist, counsellor, GP, youth worker, artist, student, carer, or simply someone who cares, VOXED welcomes you. We trust that listening and conversation spark real change.

Who Should Attend

• Individuals with lived experience
• Carers, families, and supporters
• Therapists, counsellors, and healthcare professionals
• Educators, social workers, and youth workers
• Researchers, academics, and students
• Artists, advocates, and community organisers

If you’ve ever thought, “I care about this but I don’t know if I belong,” you belong here.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

VOXED is built on the belief that all kinds of knowledge deserve equal respect. We’re committed to:

• Amplifying Marginalised Voices: Including those from racialised, disabled, neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, working-class, and other communities.
• Intersectional Perspectives: Holding space for complexity, acknowledging harm and hope, tension and progress.
• Ongoing Accountability: Listening, reflecting, and learning—because true inclusion is a journey, not a promise of perfection

Join Us

Whether you’re here to share your work, ask big questions, or simply listen in – you’re welcome.

Register now and be part of conversations that could shape the future of eating-disorder care, research, and recovery.

This might just be a conference. Or it might be the start of something more.

Either way, you’re invited.

CONFERENCE ACCESSIBILITY & TICKET FEES

TICKETS

Choose your ticket price. Each ticket provides access to the LIVE event on Zoom & the conference Recording. Choose the fee that works for you: £25.00, £37.50, or £50.00.

CPD CERTIFICATE

After attending the LIVE conference, your CPD certificate will be emailed to you.

If you watch the event on catch-up, you can download your certificate from the Onlinevents CPD Library.

RECORDING

This conference will be recorded and the recordings are included in the live admission tickets. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch it again.

ZOOM

This workshop will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.

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At Onlinevents, we and the presenters we collaborate with are committed to working in a way that aligns with the ethical codes and frameworks of our respective professional organisations. We expect all colleagues attending our events to uphold the ethical principles of their professional membership.

If you are not a member of a professional organisation, we ask that you participate in a way that is both authentic and respectful, fostering a space of mutual learning and professional engagement.

By registering for this event, you agree to be present and interact in a manner that reflects these principles.

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CONFERENCE HOST

Kel O’Neill is a Counsellor, Trainer, and Researcher with two decades of combined lived and professional experience in the field of eating disorders. Passionate about challenging stigma and broadening understanding, Kel is working towards compassionate and accessible support for anyone affected by eating disorders.

Kel is the creator of The Eating Disorder Recovery Companion and co-founder of the Lived Experiences of Eating Disorders (LEED) Research Collective. Her blog and YouTube channel, Mental Health Bites, offer valuable resources for improving understanding of eating disorders. Those interested in learning more can explore her online and in-person training, which helps professionals enhance their knowledge and skills in this important area.

Through her work in therapy, education, and research, Kel helps individuals and professionals alike navigate the complexities of eating disorders.

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Beyond the Numbers: Understanding BMI Barriers in Eating Disorder Referral and Treatment – Tanya Frances & Kel O’Neill

While NICE guidelines advise against using BMI as the sole criterion for access to eating disorder (ED) treatment, people with lived experience frequently report that weight thresholds continue to shape who is offered care. This session shares preliminary findings from a qualitative study exploring how ED clinicians understand the role of BMI in access to treatment.

We conducted four focus groups with 17 specialist clinicians, including dietitians, psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors, mental health nurses and a consultant psychiatrist. Using thematic analysis, we developed themes around the centrality of low BMI in determining risk, the pervasive influence of weight stigma, and the way ED clients/patients can be positioned as a “hot potato”, whose perceived risk or complexity may feel unmanageable or unsettling for services.

Session Aims:

• Present preliminary findings on how BMI-based barriers are understood in ED care.
• Reflect on implications for clinicians and people with lived experience of EDs.

Tanya Frances

Dr Tanya Frances (she/her) Tanya is a Chartered Psychologist, Lecturer, and Psychotherapist whose feminist, critical, and embodied work explores trauma, eating disorders, epistemic injustice and violence. She is the author of Narratives of Childhood Domestic Violence (Routledge) and has published widely across academic and professional contexts. Tanya co-founded the Lived Experiences of Eating Disorders Research Collective and the Intersectional Violences Research Group. She also has lived experience of an eating disorder. She feels passionately about centring lived experience voices to challenge dominant narratives and foster more compassionate and socially and epistemically just approaches to mental health care.

Kel O’Neill

Kel is a Counsellor/Psychotherapist and Educator with a special interest in the area of Eating Disorders. She has spent 15+ years working in this field in a variety of roles and is ever passionate about sharing her experiences and using her knowledge for the benefit of others. Presently Kel runs a busy private practice, delivers a collection of Eating Disorder CPD programmes, contributes to research and other professionals’ projects, as well as curating Eating Disorder content for both a blog and YouTube channels under the brand ‘Mental Health Bites’.

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WORKSHOPS

How to Rebuild a Balanced Relationship with Exercise in ED Recovery – Melissa Nelson

In this workshop, Mel will look at the benefits of movement and exercise in our lives, and how exercise can become disordered, risky, and too easily overlooked in the context of eating disorders. She will explore the relationship between exercise, eating disorders, and neurodivergence, and how to establish a balanced approach to movement. Drawing on her lived experience of working in the fitness industry, recovery from an eating disorder, and a late diagnosis of neurodivergence, Melf will share her personal insights on how to support recovery and change, and how she now looks after her own mental health.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Explore the benefits of movement and how it can become disordered
• Understand the links between exercise, eating disorders, and neurodivergence
• Learn ways to support recovery and build a balanced relationship with exercise

Melissa Nelson

Mel is a qualified counsellor currently working as a Senior Counsellor for an eating disorder charity in Somerset. She specialises in supporting people with eating disorders, with additional training as an autism-informed practitioner and experience working with children and young people. Before becoming a therapist, Mel worked in the fitness industry – an experience that shaped her lived experience of an eating disorder, her later recovery, and her eventual diagnosis of being neurodivergent. She now brings together personal insight and professional expertise to support people in finding their own recovery.

From Surviving to Shaping Services: Lessons from Lived Experience in EDs – Mary Bower

Eating disorders are often misunderstood, reduced to stereotypes or surface-level symptoms. In this session, Mary will share her personal experience of living with an eating disorder for 19 years, including 10 spent in and out of hospitals across the UK. She will explore the realities behind the illness — the trauma, shame, and silence that often go unspoken — alongside practical insights into how services can better support individuals. Drawing on her work as founder of EmpowerED Lotus, Mary highlights how trauma-informed, compassionate approaches and small shifts in service culture can make a big impact on recovery.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Deepen understanding of the psychological and emotional roots of eating disorders
• Recognise why traditional approaches often fall short
• Explore the importance of trauma-informed, compassionate care
• Identify small but meaningful changes services can make to improve recovery outcomes

Mary Bower

Mary is a Northern Irish lived experience advocate and founder of EmpowerED Lotus, a heart-led service supporting services, individuals, and families affected by eating disorders. With 19 years of lived experience, including a decade in and out of hospitals, she uses her journey — from surviving to thriving — to offer hope, insight, and compassionate support. Mary now shares her story in units, works alongside health professionals, and helps shape better care through storytelling, education, and trauma-informed understanding. Her mission is simple: to ensure no one feels alone in their struggle, and to be the voice she once needed.

How to Support Gender‑Diverse Clients with Body Image Challenges in ED Care – Lulu Tacconelli

The purpose of this workshop is to expand awareness of the impact of gender identity on body image and eating disorder outcomes, and how these outcomes arise. Lulu will begin by outlining gender identity as a socially-derived construct, distinguishing between “gender” and “sex.” They will then highlight how theoretical models of body image, such as the tripartite influence model, explain the role of social factors in shaping both body image and vulnerability to eating disorders. Drawing on their Master’s thesis, Lulu will share findings on how the transgender experience of discrimination contributes to less favourable body image and eating disorder outcomes, using the minority stress and resilience model as a basis. The session will also consider how intersections of marginalised identities produce unique patterns — for example, differences seen in the experiences of black women compared with women of other races.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Understand how gender identity shapes body image and eating disorder experiences
• Explore theoretical models linking social factors, body image, and eating disorders
• Reflect on the unique experiences of transgender and other marginalised groups

Lulu Tacconelli

Lulu is a graduate of the University of Lincoln whose lived experience as a transgender person inspired their research into gender and body image. Their Master’s thesis examined how transgender and gender-diverse people’s experiences of discrimination feed into less favourable body image outcomes, using the minority stress and resilience model as a framework. In October 2025, Lulu began a PhD focused on evaluating and applying an intervention to incite culture change in schools regarding body respect.

Understanding ED‑Linked Suicidality: What Services Need to Know – Dr Una Foye

People with eating disorders are at significantly increased risk of suicide, yet little research has explored why this risk is so heightened. This study brings together the voices of people with lived experience of eating disorders (n=30) and clinicians working across diverse services (n=19) to explore the factors that drive, and protect against, suicidality in this population.

Using qualitative interviews and reflective thematic analysis, Una and her team identified the complex interplay of risk and protective factors, as well as the moments when individuals are most vulnerable. In this session, Una will present key themes and findings, showing how they shed new light on why people with eating disorders experience such high rates of suicidality. She will also reflect on how these insights can inform theory, practice, and the way treatment addresses suicide risk throughout the recovery journey.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Understand the heightened risk of suicidality in people with eating disorders
• Explore key risk and protective factors identified by those with lived experience and clinicians
• Consider how research findings can shape treatment, care, and theoretical models of suicidality

Dr Una Foye

Una is a mental health researcher at King’s College London with a special interest in eating disorders. Her work focuses on using lived experience voices to deepen our understanding of eating disorders and to shape better treatment and care. Una also has particular interest and expertise doing research on inpatient mental health wards, with focus on safety, patient experience, and reducing restrictive practice.

Creating Connection Through Conversation: How Podcasts Support ED Recovery – Hannah Hickinbotham

Podcasting can be a powerful tool for sharing lived experience and creating change. In this talk, Hannah will share what inspired her to start Full of Beans, and what she’s learned from hosting over 250 episodes. She will reflect on the emotional side of storytelling, how podcasting connects those accessing support, those providing it, and those researching change, and how it has shaped both her own recovery and the wider conversation on eating disorders. Attendees will leave with insight into how lived experience, when shared authentically, can drive compassion, connection, and systemic impact.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Explore how podcasting can share lived experience and reduce stigma
• Understand the impact of storytelling on recovery and advocacy
• Reflect on how podcasts can connect lived experience, professionals, and research

Hannah Hickinbotham

Hannah is the founder of Full of Beans, an eating disorder awareness podcast dedicated to reducing stigma and amplifying lived experience. She speaks with individuals across the spectrum of lived experience, clinicians, and researchers, creating a space where people can access information, feel validated, and connect through shared stories. Hannah has lived experience of atypical anorexia and body dysmorphia, and found her path to recovery after finally receiving an ADHD diagnosis 14 years later. Passionate about broadening the conversation beyond stereotypes, Hannah uses podcasting as a platform to inspire hope, challenge stigma, and build genuine connection.

How to Confidently Involve Families in ED Treatment (Without Breaking Trust) – Deirdre Reddan & Zuzanna Gajowiec, Supported Families

Families can often be a hidden superpower in eating disorder recovery. Yet professionals may feel reluctant or lack confidence in involving them, citing concerns around confidentiality, conflict, or boundaries. Drawing on their combined lived and clinical expertise, Deirdre and Zuzanna will share insights from their work with families and professionals on how to build collaboration rather than exclusion. The workshop will explore the unique role families can play — including parents of adults — and offer practical guidance to help professionals engage families confidently, ethically, and effectively. Attendees will leave with a renewed perspective on how families can be part of the solution, not the problem.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Explore common barriers and concerns around involving families in ED recovery
• Understand the unique contributions families can make, including with adults
• Gain practical strategies to engage families with confidence and compassion

Deirdre Reddan

Deirdre is a former banker and mum who supported her daughter through eating disorder recovery. This life-changing experience inspired her to retrain as a coach and eating disorder expert by experience.

Zuzanna Gajowiec

Zuzanna is a Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist with over 12 years’ experience in the field. She is Chair of the Ireland chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals.

Together, they have spent the past four years working with families and professionals, challenging assumptions and creating collaborative, recovery-focused approaches.

Eating Disorders in the Black Community: Barriers and Better Support – Kaysha Thomas MSc, MBANT

Eating disorders in the Black community remain under-recognised, under-researched, and often misunderstood. Despite harmful stereotypes suggesting otherwise, Black people experience the full spectrum of eating disorders — yet many go unseen and unsupported. In this workshop, Kaysha will explore the cultural significance of food in Black households, the role of stigma in preventing people seeking help, and the ways Black people “show up” in therapeutic spaces. She will also examine weight bias, the limitations of BMI, and how assumptions about Black bodies delay diagnosis and care. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the barriers Black people face in eating disorder recovery, alongside practical steps for creating safer, more culturally-responsive support.

Aims / Outcomes:

• Understand cultural, systemic, and clinical barriers facing Black people in ED recovery
• Explore how stereotypes and bias delay diagnosis and treatment
• Identify practical ways to create safer and more culturally-responsive support

Kaysha Thomas MSc, MBANT

Kaysha Thomas is a Registered Nutritional Therapist, trauma-informed Pilates teacher, and Black women’s mental health advocate with a Master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Nutrition. Since 2017, she has supported individuals on their eating disorder recovery journeys through a compassionate, embodied, and anti-oppressive lens. Blending nutritional therapy with the principles of nervous system regulation and embodied movement, Kaysha helps people reconnect with their bodies and reclaim their relationship with food, exercise, and self-worth—beyond diet culture and appearance-based ideals. Known for her balanced and compassionate approach, she creates person-centred spaces where recovery feels possible, grounded, and empowering.