Bernie is the co-founder of NEDDE Training and a BACP-accredited counsellor, psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor, with over 20 years’ experience. She trained as a Master Practitioner in Eating Disorders and Obesity at the National Centre for Eating Disorders (NCFED) and later held senior roles there, including supervisor, mentor, senior lecturer, and clinical lead.

 

Bernie co-founded NEDDE Training with Lisa Smith to address the lack of specialist, neurodivergent-affirming support within eating disorder services, and to provide evidence-informed education and supervision for clinicians. Alongside this work, she continues to run her own practice, Healing Minds, as a private therapist, advisor, and trainer.

Lisa is a co-founder of NEDDE Training and the organisation’s Consultant Functional Nutritionist and Trainer. She is a BANT-registered nutritionist specialising in functional nutrition, with a person-centred approach that looks beyond diagnostic labels.

 

Lisa’s work considers the wider biological and environmental factors that influence wellbeing, including lifestyle and neurodivergence. She brings over a decade of experience working alongside Bernie across a wide range of eating behaviours, and is a senior lecturer at the College of Naturopathic Medicine, with additional experience collaborating with a cognitive neuroscientist to explore the links between hormones, neurotransmitters, and behaviour.

Frances brings extensive experience in mental health leadership and crisis intervention to her role. As a former Clinical Lead Manager for an NHS provider on the South Kent Coast, she led safeguarding initiatives and managed frontline mental health services within complex and high-risk settings.

 

Her career includes coordinating Kent Counselling Services and contributing to a residential assessment unit supporting adolescents with complex and challenging presentations from inner-city London. Frances also has specialist experience in supervision and counselling within Victim Support Homicide services and is a qualified Critical Incident Stress Debriefer (CISD), supporting individuals and professionals following traumatic events.

Mel is an integrative counsellor, writer, trainer, and group facilitator with a particular interest in eating distress, disordered eating, body image, and weight stigma. Her work strongly advocates for people in larger bodies and challenges weight-based assumptions within therapeutic practice.

 

Alongside her work in training and facilitation, Mel works for a domestic abuse charity supporting individuals who have used harm, and brings this experience into her wider clinical and reflective practice. She has been published in Therapy Today, including an article on fatphobia (June 2021), and regularly writes on disordered eating, weight stigma, class, and related themes.

Denise is an NCPS-registered integrative therapist who places strong emphasis on creating safe, ethical therapeutic spaces for reflection and self-exploration. She has qualifications across a range of therapeutic approaches, alongside specialist training in eating disorders.

 

Her professional background includes managing refuge services, overseeing mental health provision, and working within education. Deni is also an active contributor to public awareness initiatives, including The Continued Silence radio show, which addresses issues such as child sexual abuse. She is currently developing work in sport psychology and body image, with a focus on early intervention and the prevention of eating disorders among young girls in sporting environments.

Tigger is a neurodivergent and autistic advocate, consultant, and trainer based in Cornwall, with over 35 years of professional and personal experience working alongside and advocating for neurodivergent individuals. His work centres on increasing understanding of neurodiversity and promoting acceptance of people as they are, rather than encouraging conformity to neurotypical norms.

 

Drawing on lived experience, professional practice, and educational expertise, Tigger delivers training and consultancy both in person and online, supporting individuals, families, educators, and organisations. He is a regular conference speaker, hosts a number of podcasts and vodcasts, and is a Makaton Regional Tutor. Tigger was also nominated for a National Diversity Award in 2023.

Penny is a qualified Neurodiversity and Inclusion trainer based in Jersey, with both professional expertise and lived experience as a neurodivergent individual and parent to neurodivergent children. Her work is informed by her family’s experiences, including her daughter’s journey with autism and ARFID.

 

Motivated by gaps in understanding and support, Penny founded a large online ARFID support community and later co-founded AllMatters Neurodiverse Jersey, a registered charity recognised at the Jersey Charity Awards for its impact. Her work focuses on fostering collaboration between parents and professionals, valuing both as equal partners in supporting neurodivergent children.

Cloie Parfitt is a former registered nurse and integrative psychotherapist whose work sits at the intersection of neurodivergence and psychological trauma. Her doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh explores autism and trauma, offering evidence-informed guidance for practitioners working in this complex and emerging area of practice.

 

Cloie has over a decade of experience in mental health across a range of roles, including mental health nurse, psychotherapist, peer support worker, development mentor, and support group facilitator. She now runs a private practice, working predominantly with neurodivergent young people and adults. Alongside her clinical work, Cloie acts as a consultant and trainer, supporting organisations and professionals to develop trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and ethically grounded practice.

Zoe Burnett is an integrative, BACP-registered counsellor specialising in eating disorders, neurodiversity, and LGBTQIA+ affirmative practice, with a particular focus on eating and body image difficulties during the postpartum period.

 

She is the author of the Amazon best-selling book Inside My ED and a multi-award-winning TEDx and public speaker. Zoe contributes to the training of junior doctors and delivers education in schools and to medical professionals on recognising eating difficulties. Alongside her private practice in Lincoln, she works with a leading eating disorder charity, advocating for care that adapts to the individual and supports recovery.

Caroline is a BACP-registered psychotherapist who runs a private practice in Edinburgh, with a particular interest in working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and exercise addiction. Before training as a therapist, she spent 20 years working in fitness and performance sport as a coach, tutor, and movement therapist.

 

Caroline is passionate about raising awareness of the fine line between ‘healthy’ and ‘disordered’ practices within sport and fitness, and about challenging prevailing assumptions around body size, shape, and relationships with food and exercise. She has been delivering training and presentations on eating disorders and exercise addiction to coaches and fitness professionals since 2016.

Gillian is a counsellor and psychotherapist specialising in eating disorders and working with neurodivergent clients. She trained as an integrative counsellor in 2010 and completed her Master Practitioner Diploma with the National Centre for Eating Disorders (NCFED) in 2016.

 

She works with young people, adults, and parents, supporting recovery from restrictive and purging eating distress. Gillian’s integrative approach draws on EFT, positive psychology, motivational language, psychoeducation, nutritional rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. She values collaborative, multidisciplinary working, and her practice is informed by both extensive training and lived experience, bringing compassion and empathy to her therapeutic work.

Sarah Parker is an accredited counsellor and coach, as well as an experienced speaker and educator. Originally trained as a relational counsellor, she has since specialised in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), and EMDR.

 

Sarah has extensive experience within NHS mental health services, including many years working in a specialist Community Eating Disorder Service in Leeds. She now runs Well of Being, a therapy service offering neuro-affirmative, client-led support for individuals experiencing difficulties with food, weight, and body image. Sarah’s practice is informed by both professional expertise and lived experience, and is grounded in a belief in recovery within environments of compassion, safety, and acceptance.