# Episode 289: Brian Baumal | Perfectionism, Shame, and Food Addiction Recovery

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episode-289-brian-baumal-perfectionism-shame-and-food-addiction-recovery
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episode-289-brian-baumal-perfectionism-shame-and-food-addiction-recovery.md
Podcast: [Food Junkies Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617)
Published: 2026-07-16T16:47:00+00:00
Episode link: https://foodjunkies.libsyn.com/episode-289-brian-baumal-perfectionism-shame-and-food-addiction-recovery
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/foodjunkies/289_episode.mp3?dest-id=2520758
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episodes/episode-289-brian-baumal-perfectionism-shame-and-food-addiction-recovery
Duration seconds: 3125

## Resource

In this episode of Food Junkies, Dr. Vera Tarman and Clarissa Kennedy sit down with Brian Baumal, a registered psychotherapist based in Toronto and owner of Aliva Psychotherapy, where he specializes in weight management, eating disorders, food addiction, and psychological support for bariatric surgery patients. Brian trained at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto and has been a licensed member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario since 2015. He's also a food addict in long-term recovery, having lost 100 pounds and kept it off for over 14 years. Brian shares the moment that changed his understanding of food addiction forever — an intense, addictive reaction to a piece of chocolate at a holiday party that made him realize this was on an entirely different scale than an ordinary craving. From there, the conversation dives deep into perfectionism: how shame and diet culture create an idealized, unrealistic self-image; the difference between adaptive perfectionism (using structure and tools in service of recovery) and toxic or maladaptive perfectionism (an all-or-nothing mindset that treats any slip as total failure); and how perfectionism can quietly become a "runaway train," redirecting obsessive focus from food onto weight, exercise, or other behaviors. Brian also explains how he uses a Gestalt therapy lens — treating what shows up in the room between therapist and client as the material for the work itself — to help clients build individualized, flexible recovery plans instead of rigid, punishment-driven rules. The group discusses distinguishing an addictive relapse from a psychological or shame-based slip, the role of relapse plans and "gathering data" after a slip, and why using tools (scales, timers, structure) isn't a sign of weakness but a sustaina…

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## Transcript

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