Why Your Body Image Sucks: Thoughts from a Body Image Therapist in Utah

If you and I could sit down just the two of us, I would be honored to hear your story about your body image. I know it’s hard for you to look in the mirror. I know you cringe at the photos you are tagged in. I know more than anything that this is so hard for you. You hate feeling this way. Honestly, it’s downright miserable. There’s no amount of reassurance that you can get that you look fine, and I’m sure that gets old. Can I let you in on a little secret though? It’s about so much more than your body. Your body probably represents some of your beliefs about yourself and your worth. Do you know why nobody can convince you that you look ok? It’s about way more than your reflection in the mirror. I wish we could convince you that you’re ok and that your body is ok but I know there are some real reasons why you don’t feel that way. 

4 Reasons for Negative Body Image 

Every person has their own unique experiences with body image issues. I can imagine what you’ve been through with your body because this is what I talk about daily with my clients but your story and experience are still unique. You have different experiences when it comes to negative body image. Those experiences matter, and just because it might not be any of the reasons I have listed below doesn’t mean it’s not important or real. 

1. People spoke negatively about your body

It’s a common experience for women to be told at some point in their lives that something is wrong with their bodies. You may have been one of those people. It could be that someone you cared about and respected had something negative to say about your body and appearance. I know those words go deep and we carry them with us. You may not have ever thought something was wrong with your body until someone pointed it out. Some people have had terrible experiences with being bullied about their bodies, and that impacted their body image issues. 

2. Society has unrealistic expectations about body image

Women’s bodies have historically been sexualized and objectified by society. Society can make you believe that everything important about you comes down to your body and appearance. Our society has beauty standards that are extremely difficult for most women to fit into. The beauty and diet industry is extremely wealthy and profits from women hating their bodies. The bodies of women that you see on social media and on TV are bodies that have been edited, sculpted, and filtered into a version that is not realistic. It’s hard to have a positive body image when you have that to compare yourself to. 

3. Your body has changed 

Bodies change throughout time for many different reasons. Age, puberty, pregnancy, trauma, health issues, etc are all reasons women’s bodies change. It can be difficult when you notice your body changing in what feels like a negative. Weight gain can be emotionally difficult for women and their mental health. You may have noticed your mental health takes a nose dive because your body has changed. It’s difficult to not compare yourself now to what your body used to look like. Somehow it feels like the younger and thinner version of your body is somehow better and you should be striving to get back to it. That doesn’t mean that’s true. 

4. You have high expectations for your body

You might believe that your body is supposed to be flawless. You might expect your body size to be something it’s not naturally made to be. You might not believe this about other people’s bodies but you believe it about yourself. It would be hard to convince you otherwise. You might be a high-achieving person and a perfectionist and it might come out in your body image. 

Body Image Therapy in Utah can improve negative body image

Going to therapy to address negative body image can drastically change your life. Body image therapy isn’t to make you fall in love with your body, and it’s not designed to help you change your body. The goal of therapy for body image issues is to help you feel more neutral about your body. Actively hating your body and trying to change it will not be good for your mental health. Therapy can help you understand why you place an emphasis on your body and appearance and help you to challenge it. Those past experiences that have impacted how you feel about yourself and your body are also an area to work on in therapy. You can learn the coping skills to deal with negative body image.

Start working with a body image therapist in Utah

You don’t have to keep hating your body. You can stop spending all your emotional energy focused on changing your body. Body image therapy can help! This Utah Counseling Clinic has a body image therapist specializing in treating body image issues. To begin therapy follow the steps below: 

1. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation 

2. Meet with a therapist for body image issues

3. Find relief 

Online Therapy in Utah 

You don’t have to worry about parking, commuting or even leaving your house for a therapy appointment. It’s tough to fit it into your schedule but therapy is important. This is why I offer online therapy in Utah. Online counseling is effective and convenient without you having to leave the house. 

Online therapy also means I can work with clients all over the state of Utah. I work with clients in St. George, Cedar City, Provo, Heber City, Salt Lake City, Logan, and more!

Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy 

Body image therapy isn’t the only counseling service provided by this Utah Counseling Practice. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include EMDR therapy, binge eating disorder treatment, eating disorder therapy, birth trauma therapy, therapy for college students, and anxiety therapy. Schedule a free phone consultation to see how I can help. 

About the Author 

Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah. Ashlee has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a bachelor's degree in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. She holds a master's degree in social work from Utah State University. Ashlee has been working with women who have disordered eating and body image issues since 2013. She loves helping women develop self-compassion and learn to respect their bodies for what they are.

Other blog posts you might like 

• 4 Reasons to Ditch the Scale: Advice from an Eating Disorder Therapist in Utah 

• How To Start Eating Disorder Recovery

• What to Do If You Suspect Your College Student Has An Eating Disorder

• Why College Students Develop Eating Disorders 

4 Body Image Goals for the New Year That Don’t Involve Weight Loss

It’s the New Year and this is when everyone around you is probably making resolutions to lose weight, work out, or do something to change the appearance of their body. This may have been you in years past but maybe you want to try something different. Sadly we know that 95 percent of diets will lead to more weight gain than what was lost. This leads to lower self-esteem and more focus on body image than before. A focus on weight loss may not be what you want to aim for this year. 

Many women who struggle with body image issues will utilize a diet in hopes that it will help them feel better about their bodies. They’ll lose weight and feel better for a while, but it never feels like enough. I’m not here to make you feel guilty for wanting to lose weight. What I do want to do is help you find more ways to focus on improving your body image and getting to the core issues contributing to your discomfort. 

Body Image Goals to try this New Year

There are so many goals that you could focus on in 2023 that can help you improve your body image. I want to offer four ideas to try but there are so many more to utilize. 

Focus on being body positive 

We live in a society obsessed with perfecting their bodies at whatever cost. You are probably surrounded by people in your life that don’t like their bodies and don’t hesitate to point it out. If you are prone to focus on your body’s flaws and the negative, this probably makes you feel more depressed and anxious about what you look like. You might feel angry at your body because it doesn’t look like what you want it to look like. I want to challenge you this new year to be more body positive. Body positivity means focusing on having more self-compassion for your body regardless of what it looks like. Being body-positive means focusing on having gratitude for your body and appreciating what it does. If this is the only focus of your entire year, you’d be crushing it. You will be surprised how your mental health improves when you focus on being kind and accepting of your body instead of changing it. 

Stop making negative comments about appearance 

I want this one so badly for you. When you look in the bathroom mirror, I want you to stop talking about how disgusting you look and how horrible your body is. When you put on a pair of jeans, I want you to withhold talking about how fat you are and how tight your pants are. I want you to withhold making these comments no matter how uncomfortable you might feel. Focus on whatever emotions you are feeling. “I feel fat” is not an emotional statement. I hope you’ll dig deeper into how you really feel. I know it can be hard to cope with negative body image. Another part of this goal that I want to gently remind you of is to not make negative comments about other people’s appearance. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think they should be wearing that short of shorts or a crop top. 

Avoid Comparisons

Something many of the women I work with does that they don’t always realize until we talk about it is constantly comparing themselves to others. When you walk in a room of people, I want you to avoid seeing where you size up. You don’t need to look at who you are thinner or bigger than. You don’t need to compare your legs to the person sitting next to you. Comparisons always result in feeling badly or that you are losing at something. If you admire something about someone else it can just end there. You can like someone else hair without it meaning that your hair sucks. Take yourself out of the equation when it comes to other people and what they look like. How someone else appears has nothing to do with you, and it doesn’t need to. You can appreciate the qualities of other people without it making you feel terrible when you stop comparing. 

Change who you follow on social media 

Who you follow on social media can make a big difference in how you view your body or bodies in general. Along the same vein of comparison, social media can cause us to compare our appearance to images that have been filtered and facetuned. Even if they haven’t been changed or altered, it doesn’t help to follow people that put emphasis on their bodies. It’s ok to mute or unfollow people that are sharing weight loss or exercise tips. It doesn’t make you feel good or is making you think about your body more than you’d like, changing your social media feed can make a world of difference. 

Try Body Image Therapy in Utah in 2023

There are many reasons to go to body image therapy in the New Year. Going to therapy to focus on healing from your body image issues would have a substantial impact on your life and your overall mental health. I understand it can be difficult to focus on changing how you think and feel about your body when there are some deep-seated beliefs and experiences. The goal of body image therapy is to help you work through those beliefs and experiences that you may struggle to do on your own. Body image therapy isn’t just about learning to stop hating your body but it’s about learning to challenge your overall negative beliefs about yourself. Body image therapy can start out as focusing on your body image struggles but you’d be surprised at what else comes up in a therapy session that can make a difference. 

Start working with a body image therapist in Utah today

You don’t have to keep hating your body. You don’t have to have all-consuming thoughts about wishing your body looked different. Body image therapy can help. This Utah Counseling Practice has a body image therapist that specializes in treating body image issues. To start counseling follow these steps: 

1. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation 

2. Meet with a therapist for body image issues

3. Begin healing

Online therapy in Utah 

I know it’s not easy to make time to travel to another therapy appointment. It’s not convenient to leave work or home in the middle of the day when you have things to do. It also can be difficult when you need a therapist that specializes in treating the issue you work with but they don’t live in your town. This is why I offer online therapy in Utah. It’s just as effective as in-person therapy but much more convenient. I think you’ll love online therapy. 

Online counseling means I work with clients all over the state of Utah including Provo, Salt Lake City, St. George, Heber City, Cedar City, Logan, and more. 

Other mental health services in Utah 

Body image therapy isn’t the only counseling service provided at this Utah Counseling Center. Other counseling services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include counseling for college students, birth trauma therapy, EMDR therapy, anxiety therapy, eating disorder therapy, and binge eating disorder treatment in Utah. Reach out for a free 15-minute phone consultation to see how I can help. 

About the Author 

Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah. Ashlee has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a bachelor's degree in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. She obtained her master's degree in social work from Utah State University. Ashlee has a passion for working with women who struggle with perfectionism and don’t always see themselves accurately. She loves helping women gain more self-compassion and to be able to heal from their past experiences. Ashlee knows that struggling with body image issues can have a profound impact on your mental health and can be difficult to navigate. 

Other blog posts from Maple Canyon Therapy

• Warmer Weather and Body Image Issues

• Body Image Therapy: A Therapy Guide

• Supporting Someone With Negative Body Image: 4 Tips From a Body Image Therapist

• 4 Tips From A Body Image Therapist 

• How Do I Know If I Need to Go to Therapy?

Supporting Someone With Negative Body Image: 4 Tips From a Body Image Therapist

The same thing seems to happen every morning. You’re watching your loved one look at themselves in the mirror with scrutiny. “I look disgusting!” they lament. “How is it that you can even stand to look at me?” they continue. A jab at the heart to go through this so often. Looking at this person you love and care about so much, and being so overwhelmed by all of their flaws is heartbreaking. They don’t see themselves the way you do. You don’t see someone that’s disgusting or ugly.  You see someone lovely, kind, and compassionate. You can’t imagine a more beautiful person than the one you’re watching shred their appearance apart every single day. It’s like nothing you do or say seems to make a difference at all. You feel discouraged and deflated. No matter how many times you reassure them that they aren’t disgusting, fat, or ugly, nothing changes. 

It can feel so helpless to be in this position. Loving someone with a negative body image can be challenging because you want so badly to fix it but it doesn’t matter which angle you take, nothing helps. They can’t seem to see themselves the way you do. I know there are days when you are sad that they feel this way, and I also know there are days when it’s frustrating. Whatever you’re feeling it’s completely valid. 

What are the effects of negative body image?

The impact of negative body image can destroy any form of self-confidence or self-esteem you have. People with negative body image avoid social situations or going out because of fear of judgment. They don’t want people to tear their bodies apart in the same way they do. Negative body image has a significant impact on relationships. When a loved one struggles with body image, it doesn’t feel like your opinion or thoughts matter, and they shut you out. The mental health impacts of negative body image are brutal. People with bad body image tend to be more depressed, isolative, and anxious than those that have a more positive body image. 

How do I support someone I care about with a negative body image?

The first thing I want you to know about supporting someone you care about that struggles with body image issues is that it’s really more about than what they look like. It comes down to negative beliefs they have about themselves. We live in a world that is driven by thinness and obtaining attractiveness is the most important thing. It’s understandable that your loved one would care about their appearance but when they look in the mirror it’s about more than just the size of their waist. However, most people aren’t consciously aware of that fact. My clients are convinced that it’s really just about wanting to look good. Try to understand this perspective. 

Tips for supporting a loved one with a bad body image

There is a lot that you can do to help support your loved one struggling with body image issues. Here are just a few of the suggestions. 

Focus on qualities outside of their appearance 

A common response that you might have is to reassure your loved one that they are beautiful and that they aren’t fat. I don’t know your circumstances but for some people, this can make it worse. Reassurance-seeking can reinforce this cycle of negative body image. Saying things like “I don’t see the same things that you see about yourself” is a neutral statement without reinforcing the importance of what their body looks like being so important. Focus on sharing the qualities about them that have nothing to do with their body or appearance. Keep in mind this isn’t going to be a magic fix but it’s important to put less emphasis on the body and appearance in general. Your loved one might need help remembering that they are more than a body and what they look like. 

Don’t comment on your body or anyone else 

It may seem harmless to be critical of your body or other people’s bodies. It may also seem even more confusing why you shouldn’t comment positively on other people’s bodies. We have been trained to believe that this is complementary and a good thing. However, complimenting other people’s bodies continues to place emphasis and importance on appearance. This isn’t helpful to someone that's struggling with body image. Your loved one needs to know there is greater importance on them and other people that have nothing to do with appearance. Avoiding comments can help lessen how important they might seem. 

Talk about feelings rather than flaws 

When you see your loved one standing in front of the mirror being critical of their body, they are feeling something powerful. You might hear them say, “I feel fat!”.  Just so we are clear I went to six years of college in total with 4000 hours of doing therapy before I could get licensed so I feel I can confidently say fat is not an emotion. Fat and ugly might mean the same thing to your loved one as unacceptable and uncomfortable. Encouraging them to talk about how they feel rather than focusing on their flaws can get to the root of their struggle. Talking about how they feel in general will be more helpful than reassuring them that they are beautiful and they look good in that dress. 

Learn to listen & validate 

The most important thing that you can do for your loved one and their body image issues, is to learn to actively listen. Active listening means that you are paying attention to what they are saying rather than how you want to respond. This isn’t where you give advice or tell them they shouldn’t feel the way they do. Be present and engaged. Show them that you hear what they’re saying. Validate their emotions and experience. Validation doesn’t mean that you agree with what they are sharing. It means that you are trying to understand their emotions and experience. This can help them take down the walls they might have up. 

Body Image Therapy can help 

As you probably already know, there’s only so much you can do to help a loved one struggling with body image. As I have shared earlier, there’s way more to it than wanting to be thin and beautiful. Body image therapy can help your loved one work through the beliefs they have about themselves and what is holding the importance of looking a certain way. Many women that I have worked with have shared that they were surprised by the things that came up in therapy that helped them recognize the connection. If your loved one isn’t able to make progress with their body image, try not to be discouraged and consider helping them see the benefit of going to therapy. 

Start working with a body image therapist in Utah 

You don’t have to keep struggling with your body image. You don’t have to hate the person you look at in the mirror or swipe away in disgust when you see a photo of yourself. You can come to a place of not thinking about your body so much. Body image therapy can help. This Utah Counseling Center has a body image therapist specializing in body image therapy. To begin counseling follow the steps below: 

1. Book a free 15-minute phone consultation 

2. Start working with a therapist for body image in Utah 

3. Find peace with your body. 

Online Therapy in Utah 

It can be hard to find time to attend therapy. Your schedule might not always line up with being able to commute to and from a therapy appointment. Many people put off going to therapy because they don’t think they can make time for it. Therapy can change your life and help you find relieve anxiety and self-hatred. I want it to be convenient and accessible for you. This is why I provide online therapy in Utah. It’s just as effective as in-person therapy but you don’t have to leave your house. 

Online counseling allows me to work with you wherever you are in Utah. I work with women living in Salt Lake City, St. George, Logan, Heber City, Cedar City, and more. 

Other mental health services in Utah 

Body image therapy isn’t the only mental health counseling service offered at this Utah Counseling Clinic. Other mental health services offered by Maple Canyon Therapy include eating disorder therapy, anxiety therapy, binge eating disorder treatment, therapy for birth trauma, and EMDR therapy. 

About the Author 

Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and owner of Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah. She has been working with women with eating disorders, disordered eating, and eating disorders since 2013 as a graduate student therapist. Ashlee is passionate about empowering women to be more self-compassionate and focus on body neutrality. Ashlee utilizes a health-at-every-size approach to helping women recover and move beyond negative body image.  She has a bachelor's of psychology, and a bachelor's in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. Ashlee has masters in social work from Utah State University.

4 Tips From A Body Image Therapist

If you are one of the many women that struggle with looking in the mirror, avoid photos, and are constantly thinking about how you need to change what you eat and exercise, that probably means you struggle with body image. I understand how hard it is to deal with these feelings day after day. It seems like no matter what you do you continue to hate what you look like. It doesn’t seem to matter. It can be hard to know where to start and how not to keep doing what you’ve always done when you know it won’t work long term. 

Tips to improve your body image from a body image therapist 

As a body image therapist, I work with women who really struggle to exist in their bodies. They can’t stand how they feel and they believe things would be better if they were smaller, or they just looked different. While that isn’t anywhere close to being the truth, I want to offer you some tips on how to relieve some of the body image stress. 

Wear Clothes That are Comfortable 

This might seem like a no-brainer but when you think about it how many items of clothing do you wear that you feel comfortable in? If you are constantly thinking about how tight your waistband is then you are going to be thinking about your body a ton more than when you are dressing comfortably. Dressing in comfortable clothes even if it means you go up a size can help you stop feeling so consumed by your body image. When clothes don’t feel right on your body you are more prone to think negatively and to spend more time considering ways to change your body. The solution might be to find different clothes. 

Get rid of clothes that don’t fit 

Every time I talk to my clients about getting rid of clothes that don’t fit, they tell me, “I don’t want to spend the money on new clothes!”. I totally understand that financially it can be difficult to get rid of the clothes that don’t fit and replace them with new ones. However, first I want to challenge you on whether is it really the money that is the biggest barrier to this. Or is it because you have rules for yourself on what size you can be or that you might hold beliefs about yourself if you go up a size? If it is financial stress, you can consider selling your clothes that don’t fit as well as consider buying clothes that do fit from a thrift store. Holding onto clothes that do not fit your body in hopes that you will lose weight or fear that you will gain weight is going to hold more power over you and your body than you realize. 

Stop body checking 

Body checking can be an unconscious behavior that you don’t realize you do to make sure your body is “ok”. Body checking can be looking in the mirror too often to check what you look like, weighing yourself, or measuring parts of your body to make sure it hasn’t changed. There are numerous behaviors that people can engage in that I couldn’t even name them all. I have had clients who have measured how their towel fits around their body after they shower to make sure their body hasn’t changed to other behaviors. Whatever they look like for you, work on decreasing these behaviors. They aren’t serving you and they are keeping you focused on your body and its size. 

Don’t keep changing clothes 

The women I work with have been known to change their clothes numerous times a day. It could be that you try on 5 outfits before leaving the house and you hate what you look like in all of them. It seems like the more and more you do this and look in the mirror the more and more unsatisfied you are. Please realize it’s how you feel about yourself and not the outfits that are causing the problem. If you are a compulsive clothes changer stick to not changing your outfit more than two times to start. Again, this is in an effort to help you stop focusing on what you look like. If you never looked in the mirror again, I think your life might be better for it. I’m not going to go to the extreme but if you can decrease it, you’ll likely feel better. 

Body image therapy can help

If you are struggling with your body image, and you’ve done everything you can on your own, and you still feel horrible consider body image therapy. It’s not easy to overcome this all on your own especially when you’ve struggled with body image issues for a long time. Struggling with body image and going to therapy doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with you. It means that you are a person that wants to grow and change. That’s something admirable. You deserve to feel better about yourself and your body. Working with a body image therapist that can help you work through how you feel can change your life. 

Ready to start working with a body image therapist in Utah?

You don’t have to keep battling with your body and cringe every time you look in the mirror. You can feel so much better about yourself and body image therapy can help. This Utah Counseling Clinic has a body image therapist specializing in treating body image. To begin therapy follow the steps below: 

1. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation 

2. Meet with a body image therapist in Utah 

3. Start making peace with your body

Online therapy in Utah 

I know it’s not always convenient to take time out of your schedule to travel to a therapy appointment. However, I believe therapy is worth it and can lead to big changes in your life. I want to make it more accessible for you, which is why I provide online therapy in Utah. This is safe and effective as much as in-person therapy is. 

Online counseling means I can work with you wherever you are in Utah. I work with clients in Salt Lake City, Heber City, Logan, St. George, Cedar City, and more. 

Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy 

Body image therapy isn’t the only mental health service provided by this Utah Counseling Center. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include eating disorder therapy, anxiety therapy, EMDR therapy, and birth trauma. 

About the Author 

Ashlee Hunt is a therapist and owner of Maple Canyon Therapy in the state of Utah. Ashlee has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a bachelor's degree in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. She has a master's degree from Utah State University in Social Work. Ashlee works with women who struggle with eating disorders and negative body image by helping them utilize self-compassion. She has been working with women with eating disorders since 2013 and hopes to continue working with these wonderful women forever. When Ashlee isn’t doing therapy she enjoys spending time outside and playing with her Goldendoodles in Spanish Fork.

Body Image Therapy: A Therapy Guide

You cringe thinking about having to have your picture taken or to have to go shopping for clothes because you can’t stand to look at yourself. Whether it’s been recently or for a long time, dealing with body image struggles is hard. It seems to take over your life and prevents you from enjoying your experiences. You wish that you didn’t even have to think about your body but as of right now it seems to take up too many of your thoughts. You feel kinda dumb for struggling with these things because you think people have real problems and hating your body doesn’t seem like a big enough problem to you. Despite all of that you can’t seem to change how you feel. You’ve tried over and over to change your body. You’ve lost weight, dyed your hair, contour your cheeks, and more but regardless you still struggle.

Worrying about your body feels like a never-ending cycle for you. You have tried to solve it all on your own but it doesn’t seem to change long-term for you. Do other people feel this way about their bodies or are you the only one? 

I totally get it. You’ve done everything you possibly could think of try and feel better about your body but you haven’t been successful. You’re tired of feeling this way but aren’t sure there is the hope of feeling better. As a body-image therapist, I have worked with many women who feel just like you. They’ve been able to make peace with their bodies through body image therapy and you can have this too. It’s not unreasonable to expect that you can have a life you enjoy that’s not completely plagued by tugging and pulling at your clothing, thinking about your next diet, or cosmetic procedures to change your appearance. 

What is body image therapy?

Body image therapy is a mental health service focused on body positivity or body neutrality with the help of a body image therapist. Body image therapy focuses not only on how to develop coping skills to deal with body image issues but to heal from the underlying issues contributing to negative body image. Women aren’t born hating their bodies but they learn how to do it somewhere. Many women have seen family members be critical of their bodies or other people’s bodies. They’ve learned that it’s important to be a certain size or look a certain way or else they don’t feel worthy. Body image therapy helps women heal from these experiences and change the negative beliefs they have about their bodies. Body image therapy helps women to utilize more helpful and positive behaviors when they are feeling triggered by their appearance. 

How does body image therapy help?

Working with a body image therapist can help you change your overall view of your body. It can help you recognize triggers to think negatively about your body and challenge you on how you compare yourself to other people’s bodies. Body image therapy can help you recognize the impact social media has on how you feel about your body and how to manage those thoughts. Being able to verbalize the thoughts and feelings that you’ve never been able to share out loud before can be more cathartic than you realize. Body image therapy helps improve your overall mental health and helps you stop fixating on all your flaws but helps you focus on the things your body can do and how it helps you live your values regardless of what you look like. 

How do body image issues impact mental health?

Women with body image issues often have higher rates of depression and anxiety. They have lower self-esteem and are more vulnerable to developing disordered eating and eating disorders than women who don’t have a negative body image. Body image issues are often minimized because they seem like a “first world problem” but it impacts a woman’s ability to function in her daily life. Not only do body image issues impact mental health but they also impact intimate relationships. Body image issues impact overall mental health when you are consumed with thinking negative thoughts about yourself and engaging in behaviors to change or alter your body. Behaviors to alter your body might offer temporary relief but long term they are damaging, and require these behaviors to be effective. 

What therapy is best for body image issues?

There are several different therapy types that can be helpful in dealing with body image issues. The three therapy styles that I use in working with body image issues are these: 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)  focuses on utilizing mindfulness and acceptance with committed behavioral techniques to be able to change. ACT focuses on something called psychological flexibility to change behaviors that are consistent with your values. ACT helps focus on distancing yourself from the thoughts you have about your body image through cognitive diffusion. 

EMDR Therapy

Eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma therapy that helps reprocess traumatic experiences. EMDR is helpful to anyone who has a negative body image but especially to those who have traumatic experiences that involved their bodies. EMDR not only helps with trauma but it also helps change negative beliefs held about your body

IFS

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is not a family therapy contrary to the name. IFS focuses on recognizing parts of the mind that function as a system and how to give each of these parts what they need in order to overcome mental health issues.

How can a therapist help with body image issues?

A body image therapist is trained in therapeutic approaches that can help you combat negative thoughts about your body and go to the root of the issues. As a body image therapist, I am able to see an outside perspective of your experiences and help you make connections about your body image. It might be hard to believe that your body image has less to do with your body size and appearance than you think it does. Working with a body image therapist can help you recognize this and make lasting changes to how you view yourself.

How will body image therapy help with body dysmorphia?

I need to clarify that negative body image and body dysmorphia are not the same things. I see on social media that these two things are often confused. Negative body image is being critical and unsatisfied with your appearance. Body dysmorphia is a hyper fixation on certain body parts resulting in severe emotional distress. Body dysmorphia is a significant mental health issue that goes beyond negative body image. Body image therapy can help but what helps the most with body dysmorphia is medication and Exposure and Response Therapy.  To be diagnosed with body dysmorphia these are some of the symptoms: 

Symptoms of body dysmorphia

• Abnormally concerned with a small or non-existent flaw

• Thoughts about these flaws are severe enough to significantly impact your daily functioning

• A strong belief that you have a defect or deformity in appearance that is not real

• The belief that other people are judging and mocking you for your appearance 

Why should I work with a body image therapist?

You should work with a body image therapist because you deserve to feel better about yourself. You deserve to enjoy your life and create memories with the people you love without having to be consumed by what your body looks like. There is a life for you that you can enjoy without having to feel anxious and self-hated. Working with a body image therapist can help you achieve those goals. You might not know this because you don’t know anything different than being consumed by what you look like. There is hope for you to find relief from your struggles, and working with a professional who knows exactly how to help you can make a big difference. You deserve to do this for yourself so you can keep showing up for the people in your life that you love so much. 

Maple Canyon Therapy’s Approach to Body Image Therapy 

The primary goal that I have for the women I work with in body image therapy is for them not only to stop hating their bodies but for them to just stop thinking about their bodies in every situation. I don’t try and tell my clients that once they are finished with body image therapy they will be in love with their bodies. I can’t promise that, and to be honest many women never get to the point of loving their bodies. It’s ok not to love your body all the time but the most important thing is that you start to feel neutral about it and learn to give it respect regardless of what it looks like. The thing I want the most for you is for you to stop actively trying to change your body. I want you to heal from all of the messages you’ve received that your body is the most important thing about you when it’s not. You are much more than your body. 

My focus in body image therapy is to help you heal from the trauma that your body has been involved in. Many women have been told hurtful and horrible things about their bodies. Many women have experienced trauma around their bodies and this contributes to how they feel. I want to help you heal from all of that so you don’t have to spend so much of your energy trying to avoid thinking about it. I want you to be able to enjoy the activities you love without worrying about what your body looks like and what other people must be thinking about you. I want you to make peace with your body. 

Ready to start working with a body image therapist in Utah?

You don’t have to keep hating your body and repeating the cycles of hating everything you wear and avoiding the mirrors. There’s a better and more balanced way of living, and body image therapy can help. This Utah Counseling Clinic has a body image therapist specializing in body image therapy. To begin counseling follow the steps below: 

1. Book a free 15-minute phone consultation 

2. Meet with a body image therapist in Utah 

3. Start making peace with your body 

Online Therapy in Utah 

It’s easy to put therapy on the back burner and put it off because you have a busy schedule or get anxious about trying to find a therapist’s office. I totally get that it’s hard to prioritize yourself. I also believe you deserve it because therapy can and should change your life. I can’t solve all of these problems but I want therapy to be more convenient and accessible to you which is why I provide online therapy in Utah. Online counseling is just as effective as in-person therapy but is more convenient for you. 

Online counseling allows me to work with clients who are struggling with body image issues in Utah. I work with clients in Cedar City, St. George, Logan, Salt Lake City, Heber City, and more. Reach out today to make an appointment. 

Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy 

Body image therapy isn’t the only mental health therapy service provided by this Utah Counseling Practice. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include anxiety therapy, eating disorder therapy, EMDR therapy, birth trauma, and binge eating disorder treatment. 

About the Author 

Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and owner of Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah. Ashlee has a bachelor of science in psychology and a bachelor of science in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. Ashlee received her masters in social work from Utah State University. She enjoys working with women with eating disorders and negative body image. Ashlee loves helping women see what’s under their body image issues and to stop believing they need to change their bodies to be happy. When Ashlee isn’t doing therapy, she likes spending time with her Goldendoodles and exploring Southern Utah.