Body Image Issues

Healthy Body Image is not popping out of bed to wink at yourself in the mirror with a narcissistic grin. Just like feelings about anything else, how we feel about our size/shape/body parts fluctuates, for better or for worse, due to lots of factors. But how able are you to ACCEPT yourself physically right now? Your body IS what it is right now- whether that's optimal in your opinion or not. It is much easier to change, grow, and improve, when we can accept what currently exists.

I am a fat liberationist which has meant significant client work and training on issues around bodies and how we can all come to love our own bodies.

How we feel in our own skin impacts how we experience so many things in our lives. The messaging to feel not good enough comes from so many places it can feel hard to stay tethered to your sense of being enough. I work with clients to explore their relationship with themselves and to cultivate a practice of compassionate acceptance. I take a HAES approach.

I work with Body Image concerns, including but not limited to: Body Dysmorphia; Eating Disorders; Weight Gain/Loss; Food Shame; Food Addiction; Exercise Addiction; Familial Trauma; Bullying/Harassment; Kink; Puberty and Body Changes; Gender Exploration; Plastic Surgery; Ageing; Pregnancy; Reclamation of Self

Sex Therapy usually involves a deeper look into some of the causes of sexual difficulties, dysfunctions, and dissatisfaction. Sexual issues can alert you to other issues happening in your life, as the mind and body are connected. If you find yourself consistently distracted or “spectatoring” during physical intimacy, sexual mindfulness can help to bring you back into your body and the present moment so that intimacy with yourself or your partner is the main focus.

Body image struggles are common, yet painful. I support individuals with exploring where their body image struggles are coming from and developing practicing to build a more compassionate relationship to the body.

A significant part of my own healing has been in abstaining from life long approval-seeking through attempts to control this body's size and shape - attempts that appeared to work for years at a time, even, but eventually led to more preoccupation and diminished energy for my real life. Between my own experience and further professional training, I can offer a safe presence for your healing and life changes, no matter what your size and whether or not you are currently worried about body image.

Constantly criticizing our looks and having persistent low self-esteem in our appearance seems to be a norm in our culture. Finding freedom from our own negative beliefs can be the biggest act of kindness you give yourself.

I'm aligned with Health at Every Size! Diet culture, fatphobia, and other forms of ableism are pervasive, widely accepted, and, ultimately, stem from larger systems of oppression. It's high time we look deeper into these systems and choose the values that truly promote health and peace! You're guaranteed to be in a relationship with your body for your whole life. It's worth making that relationship a kind and honoring one.

In my training and research, I examined the impacts of body image concerns on BIPOC folx, women-identified individuals, and trans and gender-expansive folx across the lifespan.

I help clients with body image issues by fostering a compassionate, non-judgmental space to explore their relationship with their bodies. Together, we challenge societal standards, confront internalized shame, and develop body neutrality or body positivity. I emphasize self-compassion and healing from fat-phobia or appearance-based stigma. By incorporating mindfulness and somatic techniques, clients learn to reconnect with their bodies, embrace self-acceptance, and build a healthier body image.

I help people who are starting to question the dominant cultural narrative that says we need to spend our whole lives on the pursuit of thinness. Often we start to question diet culture but still struggle with complicated inner feelings - such as, "That beautiful body positive model can accept her body, but I couldn't possibly." I can help you build more confidence in your path to accept your body and learn to set boundaries with those committed to staying stuck in diet culture.

I will help you find a way to make peace with your body and to trust your body in a way that deemphasizes the focus you place on your body.

Imagine spending your life with the people and things you love, without worrying about what you ate or how long you worked out today. Imagine feeling fulfilled, like you deserve to be happy: that you're good enough just as you are. Through therapy, you can feel at ease in your body, make peace with food, and live a life that reflects your true values.

If you struggle with feelings of anxiety and self-judgment regarding your physical body's appearance or abilities, and feel overwhelmed and hopeless because of these painful feelings there are things we can work on together to help you find a more peaceful, kind, and functional way to relate to your body and food. I have worked in residential, partial hospitalization, and outpatient levels of care to treat eating disorders and body image concerns, and I want to share that experience to help you.

Our society encourages us to feel bad about our bodies. As a fat woman, I know how difficult self-acceptance can be. Together, we will find ways for you to accept yourself as you are. I will encourage you to focus on what your body can do instead of what it “should” look like. I will support you in pursuing better health at any size while feeling happier in your own skin.

I've always enjoyed working with clients seeking to understand and/or improve their relationship with food and their bodies. My experience is with behavioral visits in a medical/surgical weight loss setting, as well as a multi-disciplinary eating concerns team in a college counseling setting. I believe that comfort within our bodies is essential to self worth and that there can be value in understanding the stories we have been conditioned to tell ourselves about the space we occupy in the world