Hosted by Dr Angela Lim, Clearhead co-founder and medical doctor, Clear the Air is a mental health and wellbeing podcast covering those experiences in your life or questions you have that you feel too vulnerable to share with those around you.
We speak with experts to share the science behind what you’re experiencing and explore the answers to those questions. Together we get real and raw on the existential questions covering mental health and wellbeing that have puzzled humans for millennia.
Follow the podcast to get notified as we drop new episodes monthly.
Clearhead is an innovative employee wellbeing platform with a social mission to ensure personalised mental health and wellbeing support is accessible to everyone. Making it easier for you to build self-awareness and be guided to either digital self-help tools or book therapy on the Clearhead platform when and where you need it.
Have a burning question about mental health that you want us to answer?
Email us at contact@myclearhead.com, (https://myclearhead.com) or visit our website: www.myclearhead.com (https://www.myclearhead.com)
49: Beyond the Mirror: Understanding the Connection Between Body Image and Disordered Eating with Dr Zali Yager
From social media to diet and gym culture, messages about our bodies and the pressure to look a certain way are everywhere. Over time, these influences can shape how we see ourselves, how we eat and exercise, and even the messages we pass on to the next generation.
In today’s webinar, we break down why body dissatisfaction is so common, where it comes from, and its connection with self-esteem, mental health and disordered eating.
We will explore when seemingly healthy behaviours can become restrictive or obsessive, and the signs that someone may be struggling with an eating disorder. We’ll also look at how parents, schools and sporting communities can help young people develop a healthier relationship with food and their bodies and determine which prevention programs work, and which don’t.
Dr Zali's Biography:
Our guest today is Dr Zali Yager. An internationally recognised body image researcher with two decades of expertise in body image, eating disorder prevention and health education. She is an author and Co-Executive Director of The Embrace Collective, which she co-founded alongside 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt.
Dr Yager has helped develop and deliver evidence-based body image programs and resources reaching more than one million Australian children. She has taken her mission to prime ministers, professors and presidents, from Parliament House in Australia to the White House in the USA and has advised organisations including the AFL.
00:00 – Introduction
02:30 – Why Zali became a body image researcher
03:30 – Examples of disordered eating behaviours
04:10 – What body image means
05:45 – When healthy habits become compulsive or rigid behaviours
08:15 – What healthy eating actually means
09:30 – How someone develops a negative body image
10:55 – How children as young as three learn what the ‘right’ body looks like
11:55 – When children begin comparing their bodies with others
12:15 – Body dissatisfaction in boys and men
13:20 – How men and women experience body image pressures differently
14:10 – The origins of the body positivity movement
15:30 – Why weight-focused health promotion has backfired
16:50 – Body appreciation vs body positivity
17:20 – Why strength-based health promotion is more effective than fear or shame
18:40 – The factors that influence our eating habits beyond personal choice
19:00 – What an eating disorder-safe approach means
19:50 – Why choosing food and movement based on enjoyment can be more sustainable
20:35 – The difference between eating disorders and disordered eating
21:55 – Signs you may need additional support for disordered eating behaviours
23:50 – What to do when your child tells you they are fat
25:10 – What children are really asking when they ask if they are fat
27:20 – Why saying ‘you’re not fat’ may not be the best response – and what to say instead
29:00 – Supporting your child when you have your own body image struggles
30:10 – Why returning to work can be a particularly difficult time for new mothers’ body image
32:40 – The role of workplaces in eating disorder prevention
35:00 – Practical things employers can do to support positive body image
37:40 – Can appearance-based compliments in the workplace do more harm than good?
41:25 – Should we raise concerns about someone’s weight with them?
43:50 – Why teaching BMI in schools doesn’t prevent eating disorders
45:25 – Which school-based prevention programs do work?
46:15 – The genetic component of eating disorders
48:00 – Counteracting the impact of social media on eating disorder risk
51:35 – Why educating young people about eating disorders isn’t enough to prevent them
53:50 – Where to find evidence-based eating disorder prevention resources in Australia
55:40 – Where to get help...
8 Sept 2026
48: First Nations Perspective on Social, Emotional and Mental Wellbeing with Professor Pat Dudgeon
Clearhead acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present.
Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more than three times those of non-Indigenous Australians. In this episode, we will explore First Nations approaches to developing indigenous models of psychology and suicide prevention projects and how they differ from Western models. We learn the importance of empowering communities to develop solutions that reflect their own strengths, knowledge, and lived experience, which includes the impact of colonisation, trauma and racism.
Pat’s biography:
Our guest today is Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, a Bardi woman from Western Australia. She is a professor at the School of Indigenous Studies at The University of Western Australia. She is also the Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, the lead Chief Investigator for the national Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing research project. Finally, she was also part of a group of Indigenous psychologists who developed the widely used Social and Emotional Wellbeing model.
In this episode, we dive deep into answering the following thorny questions.
00:00 – Introduction
02:15 – Why Pat became an Indigenous psychologist
06:20 – The emergence of Indigenous psychology
07:25 – The Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project
10:00 – The Australian Psychological Society’s apology to Indigenous people
11:55 – The impact of colonisation on Indigenous mental health
13:35 – Findings from Indigenous suicide prevention research
15:15 – How Indigenous psychology differs from Western models
17:35 – The Social and Emotional Wellbeing model and its determinants
24:00 – How Indigenous-led models are used in clinical practice
28:45 – What clinicians need to deliver culturally responsive mental health care
30:15 – Creating inclusive workplaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
32:55 – The impact of racism on Indigenous suicide rates
35:30 – The impact of the 2023 Voice referendum on Indigenous people
37:20 – Programs that strengthen cultural identity and combat racism
40:55 – Why cultural identity can be a protective factor
43:40 – What happened to Indigenous populations following colonisation
45:20 – The power of truth-telling in reconciliation
47:15 – Co-design and upholding Indigenous self-determination
50:20 – Indigenous suicide prevention projects that have worked
52:50 – Learning from projects that have failed
58:00 – Pat’s personal wellbeing practice
Learn more about Professor Pat Dudgeon and her work:
https://boorn.org.au/
https://timhwb.org.au/
https://indigenouspsyched.org.au/
Learn more about Clearhead
https://www.myclearhead.com/
11 Aug 2026
47: Nutrition and the Gut-Brain Connection with Alice Fitzgerald
In this episode, we explore the growing evidence connecting gut health, nutrition, mental health and men’s physical wellbeing, including how everyday lifestyle factors can influence long-term gut health outcomes. We’ll look at how diet can support mood, energy, sleep and the gut–brain connection, as well as simple, practical changes men can make to support both their physical and mental wellbeing.
Alice’s biography:
Alice Fitzgerald is the CEO of The Gut Foundation, a national health charity focused on research and education, helping people understand their gut health and take action to protect it. She’s a keynote speaker, strategist and storyteller who believes humour, honesty and the occasional swear word are powerful tools for prevention… and she’s not afraid to talk about poo if it helps people live longer.
0:00 – Introduction
2:05 – How did Alice get involved with the Gut Foundation?
4:22 – What is the purpose of the Gut Foundation?
6:15 – Why excess sugar consumption has contributed to bowel cancer in young people
9:45 – Why telling people to stop eating certain foods is unhelpful
11:00 – What can you add to your diet to improve your gut health?
13:35 – How to have effective conversations with men about changing their diet
16:05 – What is the microbiome?
18:00 – What is gut health?
20:00 – How to eat 30 different plants a day
22:30 – The impact of nutrition on the gut-brain connection
25:40 – Should you take probiotic supplements, or is fermented food best?
29:00 – How to use the stool chart to check for signs of bowel cancer
32:45 – What age should people start screening for bowel cancer?
35:45 – What are the common misconceptions about gut health?
37:50 – Should you only buy organic vegetables?
39:30 – Why is there stigma around talking about digestive issues?
42:30 – The role of workplaces in improving gut health
45:20 – The impact of gut health on physical health and sleep
46:35 – How eating kiwifruit provides a triple benefit
48:10 – Why exercise is important for gut health
48:50 – The negative impact of restrictive diet culture on gut health
51:30 – Steps to avoid feeling overwhelmed when changing your diet
54:40 – How your next meal can immediately improve your mental health
57:30 – How exercise improves the diversity of the gut microbiome
1:00:00 – Alice’s one wellbeing practice
Learn more about Alice & The Gut Foundation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-fitzgerald-a0211226/
https://www.thegut.org.nz/
Learn more about Clearhead
https://www.myclearhead.com/
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
32,877
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 37 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
18
Social presence
0
YouTube
72
Engagement
68
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