Disordered Eating & Body Image
Challenging society’s body standards for self-acceptance
Most of us can agree that our society does not support a healthy relationship to our bodies. While “heroin chic” is no longer en vogue, the more recently idealized “Kardashian body” is also an impossible standard to achieve that leaves so many people feeling insufficient. We all want to look and feel our best. Eating well and getting exercise are undeniably good for you! But when healthy habits tip over into obsessions or rules we create for ourselves that we need to maintain to feel good and worthy, there is a problem.
Do you notice that a lot of your energy is going toward thinking about and planning what you eat, how much, and when, or how much you exercise? Are you binging, purging, calorie counting, chronically dieting? Do you find that you can’t help but to stare at yourself in the mirror and assess the shape of your figure? Do you weigh yourself compulsively and fixate on the number?
Perhaps you hyper-focus on fine lines or wrinkles on your face, or think your nose is too big, your lips too small, or your abs are not defined enough. In a time when you can get Botox at the dentist and you can blink and see three yoga studios on a single street, it’s easy to feel dissatisfied with how you look and to want to “fix” yourself.
Societal Beauty Myths
Society’s beauty standards often lead to feelings of inadequacy.
Obsessive Habits
Fixating on diet, exercise, or appearance can signal deeper issues.
Mirror Traps
Constant self-scrutiny in the mirror reflects internal struggles with self-acceptance.
The Numbers Game
Compulsive weighing often mirrors a fixation on self-worth.
Cosmetic Pressures
The ease of cosmetic fixes can deepen dissatisfaction with one’s natural self.
Physical Health Problems
Physical health complications due to eating habits.
Impact on Daily Life
Overwhelming presence of thoughts about disordered eating habits.
Embracing self-worth and love
Some people go their entire lives feeling like they don’t measure up to an impossible socially-constructed standard of beauty. They spend hours a day and thousands of dollars a month trying to achieve an ideal. Trying to feel worthy.
Dissatisfaction with our exterior is just the outer layer to what is really an internal issue: deficits in our ability to fully accept and love ourselves.
People of all genders struggle with self-worth. People express this differently, but it comes from the same source. Our therapists are here to walk you through a process of self-acceptance and self-love.
It might be hard to visualize or imagine what this feels and looks like, but you can trust in us to champion your journey.
