Tired Of Battling Your Body?
Do you struggle with the way you look?
Are you often worried about what you eat and how much you exercise?
Do you diet regularly, skip meals, or work out even when your body needs a break?
Are you in recovery for an eating disorder?
What is that negative inner voice telling you?
No matter how “good” you are about diet and exercise, you may find yourself constantly preoccupied by how you look. Getting dressed every day is a minefield of negative thoughts and what-ifs, and forget bathing suits—the idea of other people seeing your body makes you anxious and uncomfortable.
As a woman or teenage girl, you have grown up with a specific message about what the ideal body looks like. Even if you’ve done everything in your power to change your appearance, you may feel like you will never achieve perfection. Instead of feeling confident in the parts of yourself that you are proud of, you may struggle with a negative inner voice that shames and criticizes you.
You May Have Already Completed Treatment For An Eating Disorder (ED)…
If your diet and exercise behaviors have become extreme to the point of disordered eating, you may have already sought treatment. And even if you have managed to get anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, or excessive exercise under control, you may need ongoing support to boost your recovery.
Therapy can be a powerful tool in building your self-esteem. By working with a therapist who will help you understand your strengths and cope with body image stress, you can learn to feel more confident.
Unrealistic Beauty Standards Create Unhealthy Diet And Exercise Routines
Most of us women feel pressure to look a certain way. When we are constantly shown images of conventionally attractive, thin, and “flawless” women, we quickly adopt the idea that we aren’t enough. But our bodies are actually the least interesting thing about us—and once we can feel confident in ourselves, we can begin accepting our bodies as they are.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of roadblocks in the way of achieving a healthy self-esteem. Social media creates an often damaging comparison culture, causing us to measure ourselves against others. And many of us are surrounded by other women who reinforce unhealthy beauty standards. It’s exhausting to aspire to be perfect all the time, and there aren’t a lot of effective role models for having a healthy relationship with our bodies.
Learning to love your body—exactly as it is—is a radical act of self-love. Instead of internalizing the message that you should be smaller, you can learn to tune out the pressure and negativity. Working together in counseling, we will develop strategies for enhancing self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-love. Through therapy, you can be given an opportunity to accept yourself without judgment.
Therapy For Self-Esteem And Body Images Issues
When you find yourself feeling stressed or out of control around food, it can be helpful to take a step back and examine where these thoughts and feelings are coming from. A therapist specializing in body image issues can be a helpful resource for understanding your thoughts and feelings and changing course when you become overwhelmed, anxious, or upset. By learning new coping skills to deal with stress, you can feel more equipped to handle the hard body image days.
My Approach
As a therapist specializing in anxiety disorders—including social anxiety As a Health At Every Size® (HAES) therapist, I reject the idea that an “ideal” body exists and that health equals thinness. Instead of encouraging you to change your appearance, I will work with you to empower your strengths, create healthy expectations, and unlearn harmful narratives.
After getting to know you and your history with food, exercise, and body image, I will tailor our therapy sessions to meet your specific goals. Whether you are trying to reduce weight-related anxiety or looking to reinforce ED recovery, I will help you feel more confident and capable.
In addition to challenging external messages about the “perfect” body, I will provide you with specific techniques to reduce body image stress. Mindfulness and intuitive eating can help you become more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors when it comes to diet and exercise. And elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) will help you recognize when you are becoming overwhelmed so you can approach problems from a place of confidence rather than fear.
Right now, it may feel like you will never have peace about the way you look. But therapy for self-esteem and body image issues is a meaningful way to change the way you see yourself. Working together, you can absolutely learn to love and accept your body as it is—ultimately giving you back the time and energy spent wishing you looked different.
Perhaps You’re Not Sure If Counseling Can Help You…
Can therapy actually boost my self-esteem and help me feel better about my body?
Yes! Though it may feel like you will never escape the cycle of body comparison and negative self-talk, change is possible. Moving away from the dominant narrative is the first step—instead of looking at bodies as being “bad” or “good,” I will help you create more neutrality around your body image. From there, we will focus on your internal strengths and values in counseling so you can enhance your self-esteem in a lasting, meaningful way.
We all have “hard body image days” where we don’t feel our best about how we look. But therapy is a valuable opportunity to challenge a nasty inner critic and focus on more affirming experiences.
What if losing weight is important to me in developing self-confidence?
In therapy, I will always meet you where you are. If weight loss is a goal of yours, I will encourage you to get curious about where that goal is coming from and how to achieve it in a healthy way.
That said, I truly believe that all bodies are beautiful! I certainly don’t think that weight loss is necessary for feeling confident. I’ve worked with women of many different sizes in therapy, and each one has been able to develop higher self-esteem through counseling—regardless of if weight loss was a primary goal.
Can therapy help me with other self-esteem issues outside of body image?
Absolutely. Therapy is a great way to befriend yourself and learn to be more self-compassionate. No matter which areas you’d like to boost your self-esteem, counseling can help you learn to relate to yourself in a kinder, more accepting way.
You’re Worthy And Loveable Just The Way You Are
If you are tired of trying to achieve the “perfect” body, therapy for self-esteem and body image issues can help you accept yourself as you are. For more information about how I can help, contact me. I am available to work with clients in Florida, New York, and New Jersey.