Make Peace With Your Body
How do you feel about your body?
Have you ever stayed home from a social activity because of concern about how you looked?
Do you generally believe that your body needs to be something other than it is?
Do you change your outfits several times and then tug at your clothes to stay covered?
When was the last time you went an entire day (or hour) without thinking about your appearance?
Do you have a lot of food and eating rules?
Are you constantly eliminating food groups or experimenting with new diet trends?
You were born with an inherent acceptance of and trust for your body. As you grew up, you were influenced by harmful social constructs of gender, race, beauty, health, and weight. Perhaps you also experienced the harmful effects of trauma, oppression, or illness. As a result, you don’t accept or trust your body. Maybe this has evolved into not trusting or accepting yourself. You’ve spent years trying to control your body's size, shape, or appearance to cope with societal pressure or mitigate shameful feelings.
The good news is…
I can help you free yourself from the constraints of feeling defined by your appearance. We will go beyond “body positivity” to help you develop body image resilience. Facing your feelings of body shame or embarrassment can become a catalyst for major personal growth.
My approach runs counter to conventional “wisdom” about weight, food, bodies, and health. It is informed by shame resilience theory, social justice, intuitive and mindful eating teachings, self-compassion theory, mindfulness-based approaches, as well as principles of the Healthy At Every Size® model.
Yes, our work may focus on food, appearance, and body size. But it’s also about unlearning, questioning everything, relearning, and - ultimately - transforming your life.
Things we may address in therapy:
Liberating yourself from negative body image
Heal disordered eating and weight cycling
Flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than an eating plan focused on weight control or restriction
Trusting your body and yourself
Cutting through the empty promises sold by media, advertisers, and the beauty and weight-loss industries
Releasing yourself from repetitive dieting
Caring for your body in a kind and compassionate way
Healing from stigma, diet culture, shame, and feeling different or broken
Navigating relationships with fat-phobic and weight-centered family, friends, employers, and health care providers
You Should Know
I don't believe that health and weight are as inextricably linked as we've been led to believe. Pursuing health is neither a moral imperative nor an individual obligation, and health status should never be used to judge, oppress, or determine the value of an individual.
ALL Bodies are Welcome
This work is for all bodies, no matter how you feel about your body and yourself. The goal is to honor and celebrate who you are and who you can become. We will invite trust, acceptance, and radical self-compassion to yourself and your body.
