Krystle Robinson, PsyD, LLC

06/17/2025

To my fellow therapists: stop playing neutral. Stop minimizing systemic trauma to keep your comfort intact.

03/25/2025

🎯

It’s IMPORTANT to acknowledge that people come in all shapes and sizes. The only way to reduce weight stigma, which contributes to prejudice, suffering, body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, is to stop passing on the baggage of weight bias.⁠
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It’s important for us to use the word “fat” neutrally, in the same way we use the word “thin.” Otherwise we will continue to perpetuate weight stigma. It’s okay to just say what fat is. You can use this response ⁠whether your child asks why a person is fat or skinny. ⁠
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If you’d like to think more about how to talk to your child about their weight and health, there’s an amazing article in our Learning Center that gives you scripts for what to say in situations like your child saying, “I’m fat!” ⁠
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DM or comment weighttalk24 (make sure there are no spaces) and I’ll send you a DM with the link to the article: How to Talk to Your Kids About Weight & Health: A Parent’s Guide.⁠
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I’ve been diving into child health research lately, and I think the focus on weight is one of the biggest child health tragedies of the century. ⁠
⁠
If we focused on *health*, we’d have to face the injustices in our society that affect children’s health. But because we’ve focused on weight, the only thing to really talk about is individuals changing something to change their weight. Focusing on weight hurts individuals who experience discrimination and bullying, disordered eating and eating disorders, among other negative things. ⁠
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Focusing on weight also distracts us from the doing the things that would actually help the health of children overall.⁠
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There’s not a child obesity epidemic, there’s a child health crisis. Children are experiencing chronic diseases, eating disorders, and more. And we’re distracted from this by focusing on weight.⁠
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🚨Only civil comments, please. I do not tolerate comments that aren’t. Thank you for your patience as sometimes there is a lag before I get to all the comments.⁠
⁠ ⁠

01/27/2025

January is the month of broken New Year's resolutions, returning to work, financial stress from gift giving, and cold winter weather.

So if you feel the anxiety rising from the post-holiday blues, try box breathing. This mindful breathing technique can help you stay focused and alert, yet calm.

👉 Inhale through the nose for four counts.
👉 Hold your breath for four more.
👉 Exhale for the next four.
👉 Hold for four more.

11/06/2024

Let’s remember a lesson from
When Bing B**g loses his wagon, his prized possession, his connection to Riley’s childhood. He’s shattered. Joy, ever the relentless optimist, pushes him to get up, shake it off, and keep moving forward. She’s charismatic, persuasive, unflappable.

But Bing B**g can’t just “get up.” He’s too broken, too deep in his sorrow.

Sadness comes, who doesn’t try to fix him, doesn’t try to hustle him out of his pain. She just sits with him, lets him speak his grief, honors what that wagon meant to him. And it’s only in that quiet, connected space that Bing B**g begins to heal.

He finds the strength to get back up, not because someone pushed him, but because someone listened and was willing to “be with”him- authentically.

The lesson is sometimes, life hits us hard, and the solution isn’t to bounce back instantly or power through. Sometimes, we need to feel the weight, sit in it, let it say what it has to say. Because only when we acknowledge that sadness can we truly move forward.

So today, if things feel heavy, don’t rush. Take the time you need. And when you’re ready, we’ll be here—ready to move forward together.
~ Cary

09/12/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/4oUnxqgsZyg8xxXZ/?mibextid=xfxF2i

New research shows long-term psychoanalytic therapy outperforms CBT for depression in childhood trauma survivors.

08/03/2024

Nurturing mental wellness is as important as treating mental illness, according to a psychologist treating Olympic and Paralympic athletes in Paris.

07/23/2024

Before you react, read the whole caption. First a few notes:⁠
- When you have chocolate, simply enjoy it with your child (without comment), this is the best way for everyone to have a good relationship with it⁠
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- this post is specifically for the case when your child said someone told them their chocolate/candy was “unhealthy,” not a recommendation that you bring up this topic with your child⁠
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- this post is not recommending you start telling kids there are “sometimes foods” “yellow foods” or explain that we need to eat a lot of some foods and a little of other foods⁠
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Foods are morally neutral, that doesn’t mean they are the same. Foods can be different and good at the same time. Kids are surrounded by messages that say that foods are either bad or good. When someone throws that message in their face, it can be powerful to refame for them by communicating, “sure, it’s different, but it’s still good - we need all the different kinds of foods.”⁠
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When my son came home from school at age 5 telling him his friend told him chocolate was unhealthy, I came up with “some foods do a few things and some foods do a lot of things” on the spot. Ever since that conversation, when someone tells him that his chocolate is unhealthy (and it’s happened every year), he comes home angry with them and tells me “Just because it does a few things in your body doesn’t make it bad.”⁠
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This is an important idea and I’m glad that I got to give it to him during a key period in his development so that it’s stuck with him. He can’t escape the messages that foods are different and the opinions that foods are bad, but he can have the idea that different doesn’t equal “bad.”⁠
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We’re feeding kids in a complicated world. There is no playbook. There is no research telling us specifically what to say to our kids in the face of diet culture, the food industry, child health issues, and more. One thing is sure though, we do need to teach our kids to think critically, to have nuance (once their brains are developmentally ready for that), and to trust their bodies. ⁠

03/27/2024

It's okay to just say what fat is. You can use this response ⁠whether your child asks why a person is fat or skinny. ⁠
⁠
It's okay to acknowledge that people, healthy people, come in all shapes and sizes. It's okay to speak about body fat neutrally. It's okay to not pass on the baggage of weight bias we have to our children.⁠
⁠
If you'd like to think more about how to talk to your child about their weight and health, there's an amazing article in our Learning Center that gives you scripts for what to say in situations like your child saying, "I'm fat!" ⁠
⁠
Find the article "How to Talk to Your Kids About Weight & Health: A Parent’s Guide" here: https://kidseatincolor.com/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-weight-and-health/
⁠
I've been diving into child health research lately, and I think the focus on weight is one of the biggest child health tragedies of the century. ⁠
⁠
If we focused on *health*, we'd have to face the injustices in our society that affect children's health. But because we've focused on weight, the only thing to really talk about is individuals changing something to change their weight. Focusing on weight hurts individuals who experience discrimination and bullying, disordered eating and eating disorders, among other negative things. ⁠
⁠
Focusing on weight also distracts us from the doing the things that would actually help the health of children overall.⁠
⁠
There's not a child obesity epidemic, there's a child health crisis. Children are experiencing chronic diseases, eating disorders, and more. And we're distracted from this by focusing on weight.⁠
⁠
🚨Only kind and civil comments, please. I'll be clearing comments that aren't. Thank you for your patience as sometimes there is a lag before I get to all the comments.⁠
⁠

02/27/2024

New meta-analysis reveals that exercise beats both antidepressants and CBT for depression.

01/25/2024

Diet culture is co-opting big time—so it’s time for another reminder about what IE is and is not. The purpose of IE is to cultivate a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body through self-connection.⁣
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𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗘 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧.⁣
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* Not fasting or keto⁣
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* Not your cheat day⁣
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* Not a weight loss plan – including Noom, Weight Watchers, or any program with food rules for the purpose of shrinking your body or disconnecting you from it⁣
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* Not counting macros, points, or food groups⁣
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* Not a diet⁣
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* You can’t cherry-pick one or two principles and call it Intuitive Eating.⁣
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𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗘 𝗶𝘀.⁣
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* An evidence-based self-care eating framework, with over 200 studies to date, including a meta-analysis! ⁣
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* Far more nuanced than "eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full." IE is a dynamic interplay of instinct, rational mind, and thought. ⁣
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* About bringing pleasure back to the eating experience and connecting with your body.⁣
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* A self-connection journey of learning and discovery—not pass or fail. ⁣
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* Has 10 principles which are guideposts. You and only you get to decide what tastes/feels best in your body. You are the expert of you—you are in charge!⁣
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* An integration of mind-body knowledge, recognizing that life gets hectic and busy at times. Sometimes, for example, your lunch break may be before you're physically hungry - that's okay! This is where your mind knowledge comes in: your body still needs nourishment before a busy afternoon.⁣
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* Intuitive Eating is Health at Every Size aligned and weight inclusive. It’s about dignity & respect for all bodies.⁣
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Diet culture (including professional organizations) doesn’t get to change or redefine the principles of IE. Go to the source—www.IntuitiveEating.org, Intuitive Eating, 4th ed, the IE Workbook, and/or its creators Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch. ⁣
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If a program/person is offering Intuitive Eating for weight loss or fasting—Run away! ⁣
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01/08/2024

The “rules” are the same when it comes to feeding kids, regardless of their body size. ⁠
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🥘 Family meals - as many of them as possible. They can have so many benefits if they are calm. Any time of the day counts. ⁠
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⚖️ Don’t discuss weight with your child. Don’t discuss it being high or low, good or bad, and that includes your weight. Unless you’re talking about something like a carseat or how much acetaminophen to take - where weight is completely relevant, just don’t discuss. ⁠
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⏰ Set a meal or snack schedule. Some families don’t like schedules, they like routines. So a meal or snack routine. Your child should be able to get hungry between meals. 3 meals and 0-3 snacks a day (number of snacks depends on how much your child can eat, how much they sleep, and your schedule). ⁠
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👂 Teach your child to listen to their body. Let them decide how much to eat. Start with small portions to reduce food waste and prevent them from getting overwhelmed. This will also teach them to tune and think about whether they are still hungry or full. ⁠
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This is the starting place for healthful eating for everyone, regardless of weight. ⁠
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👋 If you’re looking for more information about helping your child get a good foundation for eating, DM or Comment Guide24 and I’ll send you my free 14-page picky eater guide - whether or not your child is picky, it has great information that you can use. I’m a registered dietitian and mom, and this guide is full of my best eating tips.⁠

01/06/2024