Not many of us got training in an ethical practice that involves investigating and undoing bias that causes harm to our clients and patients. Considering that we know the only consistent outcome of weight loss interventions leads to eventual weight regain (and often plus some) and is highly correlated with the development of eating disorders and disordered eating, it is imperative that we eradicate harmful language, action, and assumptions that re-enforce anti-fat bias and investigate other models of care that prevent the perpetuation of harm. The first step?
Doing our own work.
I believe that we get to be whole humans and providers. I believe that we get to access support and heal. I believe that we are allowed to be in process, we are allowed to have edges to our capacity, and we are allowed to unlearn and reject perfectionism and shame and the things that keep us trapped and get in the way of the healing we strive to provide in our professional work.
I believe that you too deserve the care that you give. I believe that our stories are a powerful tool with our clients and for collective healing. I believe that the harms of anti-fat bias and diet culture run deep and are insidious and the work of bringing them up and out of us is ongoing. That it is confronting, difficult, and best done in community. Read my ethics statement here.
Field notes from my practice that they don’t teach you in school.
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Emotional boundaries
Unlearning saviorism
What fragility feels like in my body
What grief feels like in my body
Discernment between what’s mine and what’s my client’s emotional responses
Deepening into self compassion
Acceptance that my practice and my own healing will be in ever changing flux
“Elevator speeches” for communicating to other providers about harm reduction and eating disorder care
How to know when to hold a hard boundary
The process of ending the care relationship
Ethics as an evolving practice
Navigating the line between financial security, emotional wellbeing, and the sustainability of my practice
Letting go of responsibility for the brokenness within our healthcare system
Deep self care
Honoring body sovereignty and agency while creating a container for growth and safety
Trauma-informed practice
Medical advocacy
Neurodivergent aware and affirming support
Running a practice that is more supportive to my non-linear brain process
Managing the complex process of being an insurance provider
WAYS TO WORK WITH ME.
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Professional consultation is a wonderful way to get some nourishment for your work life. An opportunity for you to have space held for you, when so often you are doing the space holding. It’s an opportunity for case consults, navigating the load of the professional work with your personal life by exploring emotional boundaries and effective care, naming and navigating the dovetailing of the client work with your personal stories, and for sure some laughter and discussions of what deep nourishment for you looks like along the way.
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Hire me to speak at your organization. I provide trainings for dietitians and other health professionals as well as workplaces interested in reducing the harmful effects of anti-fat bias and diet culture in the work place and making spaces safer for people recovering from eating disorders.
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Coming soon! Support for those doing body trust, fat liberatory, eating disorder and disordered eating care
- Whitney Trotter, Bluff City Health
“Virginia is a compassionate, fearless, and dedicated provider. Virginia's commitment to anti-racism and body liberation work is demonstrated and evident through her life professionally and personally. Virginia is an absolute joy to know and work alongside of.”
Words from colleagues, mentors, teachers…
- Kellan Morgan RDN
“I began supervision with Virginia within weeks of seeing my first ever client as an RD. Our work together has been hugely impactful in shaping my values both as a clinician and a human showing up in relationship with my clients. She encourages me to show up as a messy, imperfect, still-learning provider and consistently redirects our conversations to the "big picture". Her feedback helps to remind me of the importance of relationships for true healing, externalizing shame and systemic oppression, and "widening the lens" in ways that were absolutely not taught in traditional dietitian schooling. I often joke that I know I've gone too long without her mentorship when I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in my work. When I say that, she lovingly reminds me that none of us really have any idea what we are doing, and then shares so much wisdom and guidance that I'm not sure I can really believe her. Virginia is the best- I can't recommend her mentorship enough."
- Dana Sturtevant, Co-founder of the Center for Body Trust Author of Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing and Liberation
“Virginia Newman is a compassionate human being with a strong commitment to disrupting the status quo in health care and eating disorder treatment settings. She is passionate about creating a weight-inclusive world and dove into Body Trust work with both feet. Virginia has done the deep personal work needed to understand the healing process that is Body Trust and loves holding space for others looking to heal their relationship with food and feel more at home in their bodies.”
-Hilary Kinavey, MS, LPC, Co-founder of the Center for Body Trust Author of Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing and Liberation
“Virginia is a rare breed of dietitian and healer. Her work is both deeply wise and deeply grounded. Her commitment to body justice, fat affirmation, inclusion, and equity is everpresent and palpable. Virginia is a resource and a breadth of knowledge who leads with warmth, presence, and her humanity. She is practiced and understanding at sitting with complexity and is honoring of lived experience. Working with Virginia as a clinician or a mentor will offer you a firm foundation from which your own healing process can evolve.”
Anna Chapman, Founder of Fat Self-Care
“When I think about the current state of the world, Im really glad Virginia is a practitioner in it. I have known Virginia for years, and it has been such a gift to watch her deepen and grow within her practice and as a human. The care she puts into her clients and the consulting she does with practitioners is deep and powerful. I have seen Virginia step into her power and watched the Radical Dietitian emerge. I have experienced her wholeheartedness and the fierce compassion that she holds space with. I trust Virginia and am excited that the fat community will have access to such a badass dietitian!”
- Katie Miller LMHC, CN
“Consulting with Virginia has been invaluable for my continued growth as a provider and human. Our meetings have been a soft place to land amidst the difficulties of this work and the world and where the two overlap. Virginia has the ability to hold space with compassion and gentleness while helping me navigate through what gets stirred up for me and where my growth edges are. I highly recommend working with Virginia to anyone needing support in deepening their roots in Body Trust.”
- Kristy Fassio, LMHC
“I have had the honor of working with Virginia as a colleague for several years now, and I am consistently amazed at her fierce support for her clients, her advocacy for respectful care, and her drive to seek out a dance party. Her approach to nutrition is holistic and firmly rooted in body liberation. She works for her own liberation and the liberation of her clients, seeking to help create pathways of support so her patients can find safety, bravery, and a way forward. Those who work with her find themselves in a warm, caring and challenging environment in which to grow and explore.”
- Dr. Shereen Spriggs, One Connection Healthcare
“I share many patients with Virginia Newman and every single one of them shares the same deep gratitude for the compassionate care she gives them. Virginia is someone that puts her all into supporting people and has a deeply empathetic heart. Virginia practices from a 100% fat liberation lens and creates a safe and healing space for people needing nutrition and emotional support in this world full of diet culture and fat-phobia!”
Erin Phillips, MPH, RD, CDCES Erin Phillips Nutrition
“Virginia is a gift to dietitians. Since we don't learn this in our dietetics programs, there are very few dietitians who can really hold space for all of it - the difficult, the messy, the uncomfortable. When I've been stuck in my work with clients, consulting with Virginia is a breath of fresh air. She is wonderful at holding compassionate space for me to reflect on what is coming up on my end when I get to stuck points. I 10/10 recommend working with Virginia to anyone who needs support with trauma-informed care, having difficult conversations, working with complex cases, comfort in holding space for difficult emotions in their work, and deepening their own Body Trust practice.”
Dr. Lily Stokely, One Connection Healthcare
“I’ve worked with Virginia with mutual patients as well as mentorship for other clinicians in our office. Virginia is a powerhouse of a provider and I send patients to her that I know are ready to dig into deeper systemic change within their bodies. Her clinical skill is strong and it is clear that it stems from a fiery passion to empower people with embodied food relationship amidst a culture that does not. She is skilled as a clinician and the healthy relationships she forms with patients are part of the therapeutic value of the work she provides. The patients who get to work with her grow in ways that allow them to live their lives more fully and connected through nutrition that then overflows in beautiful ways to other areas of their life. Virginia is one of my top referrals I lean on and getting to coordinate care with her with mutual patients is an added delight in this work.”
Meghan Cichy, Meghan Cichy RDN
“Virginia is a deeply feeling and compassionate person who brings these elements into her work with clients and clinicians. She creates a safer and more supportive environment in order to make space for digging into tough stuff while feeling validated and seen. Her ability to hold space for discomfort while exploring nuance is so valuable both to her clients and also to clinicians working with her in consultation. I highly recommend connecting with Virginia to support your personal and professional food and body work.”
SarahAnn McFadden, PhD, RN, CPN Associate Professor at Pacific Lutheran University