Find confidence, acceptance, and self-kindness through body positive therapy

Body positive therapy is counseling focused on building acceptance and self-kindness towards your body, so that you can focus on building a life that matters to you. We’ll work towards embracing the body you have now, rather than an idealized body you may have had in the past or hope for in the future. You’ll feel freer to wear clothes that you like and are comfortable in, eat enough to nourish yourself and feel satisfied, and allow yourself to rest when you need to.

Body positive therapy explores ways you can care for your body that are separate from a focus on weight loss. A focus on controlling your weight disconnects you from your body’s useful signals that you are hungry, tired, and more, and some research shows that weight-cycling, or losing and gaining weight repeatedly, is harmful to your health. Research also shows that diets don’t work long-term - you may initially lose weight, but most people gain this weight back and more eventually.

Body positive therapy recognizes this research, as well as the known harms around weight stigma and fatphobia. Instead, we explore ways to view your body as something to care for and listen to, rather than to control and manipulate.

Yes, body positive therapy is aimed at improving body image, alleviating shame, and increasing self-esteem. We work to detach from harmful messages about bodies and instead focus on caring for your body from a place of neutrality. Body positive therapy explores how you would care for yourself if you loved yourself like you did a friend, pet, or child.

Body positive therapy works to take morality out of your food and movement-based choices. When food is neither morally good nor bad, your shame around your choices is reduced. We work to build your self-esteem and self-worth not around how your body is shaped, but instead around the qualities you care about the most - such as how you treat people, what you’re good at, and the ways your body allows you to do the things you love.

Yes, body positive therapy can help with disordered eating and chronic dieting patterns, two issues that I work with in my practice. Chronic dieting and disordered eating often stem from attempts to live up to society’s idea of an ideal body. My approach to body positive therapy can help you step back from these messages and explore what’s best for you.

While I work with patterns of chronic dieting and disordered eating, there are some eating disorders that I’m not qualified to treat, in which case I am happy to provide you with referrals to an eating disorder specialist.

Body positive therapy encourages you to focus on behaviors that care for your body, separate from any results on the scale, such as listening to your hunger and fullness cues, moving your body in ways that feel good, and taking time for rest and recovery. Constantly focusing on an “ideal weight” leads you to view your body through a judgmental lens where you never quite feel like you measure up. Instead of that negative focus, body positive therapy encourages you to view your body from a place of care, rather than critique.

Yes, if you’ve been judgmental of your body for some time or have experienced significant discrimination related to your body, you may struggle with anxiety or depression. Body positive therapy gets at the root of your anxiety and depression, helping you to build more self-compassion and the ability to unhook from harmful messages you have internalized.

That’s ok! My approach is focused on coming to a place of neutrality and body respect. This means that instead of always loving how your body looks (which is difficult for many people), we’ll explore what it would be like to view your body as neutral - neither good nor bad.

With the concept of body respect, we recognize that all living beings are worthy of being nourished, cared for, and free from punishment. With this knowledge, I’ll explore with you ways in which you can treat your body with the same respect you likely have for other living beings.

Reducing body checking requires shifting your perspective and developing a kinder inner voice. Social media comparison also benefits from more self-kindness, as well as some boundaries with social media. I encourage you to limit the people you follow who encourage restrictive eating patterns and impossible body ideals. Instead, try to follow people who have a range of body sizes and types, and follow people who are focused on enjoying life rather than people who are trying to achieve a perfect look.

A body positive therapy session will look like a regular talk therapy session, except for ways in which we bring in a critical lens towards the damage of fatphobia, and a focus on building self-acceptance and body kindness. I’ll guide you to notice how you have been trying to shield yourself from the oppressive harms of fatphobia, and we’ll explore alternative ways to care for yourself and seek inner contentment with yourself.

This depends on a variety of factors, including the severity of your struggles with your body image and self-esteem, and any other complicating factors that you may be dealing with. Our cultural messages around bodies run deep, and for some people, this process of unlearning these messages takes some time. Even though it takes time, the payoff often feels worth it as you gradually gain the freedom to care less about what others think and feel more engaged in your life goals.

For therapy to improve body image and self-esteem, I recommend setting aside at least 2-3 months for weekly therapy. In some situations, particularly if you’ve developed disordered eating patterns or have a history of traumatic relationships that involved body criticism, a longer-term counseling process may be helpful to allow for healing and growth. I’ll give you a more tailored recommendation when we meet, and I have a sense of your needs and goals.