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Body image issues counselling and therapy
Explore and challenge your thoughts, feelings and behaviours tied to your body image.
What is body image perception?
Our body image can be very different from how we look. That’s because we create an image of ourselves based on several factors such as social media, what others say about us, and how our body feels. Â
Even from a young age, someone has always been telling us how we should look, leading to us wanting their approval. Traumatic events, like sexual abuse, can also have a negative impact on body image and can worsen if you feel responsible for it.Â
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What is body image issues counselling and therapy?
Body image issues counselling and therapy is a great place to begin to explore and challenge thoughts, feelings and behaviours tied to your body image concerns. Therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) will give you a psychological tool kit to help navigate, cope, and conquer your body image issue. Â
Childhood and adolescent body image issues
Body image attitudes start from a childhood. Children are often told they look ‘pretty’ or ‘handsome, ‘slim’ or ‘have a nice figure’. These comments are usually meant as a compliment but they often form the cornerstone of how we see ourselves physically. They are often the first time we consider what it is ‘acceptable’ to look like.Â
Children as young as five years old can feel bad about themselves if people fail to say that they are attractive. Young people are becoming increasingly insecure about their looks with many citing appearance as one of the most important things in their lives, more important that ability, and if they aren’t attractive this will affect their friendships. Â
Weight is often the most pressing concern for this age group. Fat-shaming on social media is the most immediate and available insult to offer. This name-calling (often regardless of a person’s actual size) often tracks forward to weight-stigma in later life. It also brings a lack of confidence and self esteem, affecting everything from what the child may choose to wear, to having a photo taken, taking part in sport, speaking up in class, and socialising.Â
Sadly these learnt behaviours and attitudes stay with people as they enter adulthood. Poor body image can be a lifelong problem which is not solved by weight loss, cosmetic surgery or reassurance. Poor body image can become a constant way of life.
Reality TV shows such as ‘Love Island’ and the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram add to the pressure on young people to look a particular way. Social media influencers attract large numbers of followers but often these influencers have gone to extreme lengths to look a certain way, from purging to photo-shopping, and everything in between. But all the ‘follower’ sees is the perceived perfection.Â
Common signs of body image issues
Low self-worth and poor body image often underpin eating disorders, because we believe that eating less food will have the most immediate effect on body size, shape and health. We also believe that losing weight will make us happier, which it often does before the costs of dieting kick in or the side effects of eating disorders show up.  Body image issues may also lead some to cosmetic surgery procedures. This endless pursuit of perfection is, at its best exhausting, and at its worst highly damaging to a person’s body image, perception, self-esteem, and mental health.Â
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Why treat poor body image?
Emphasis on a person’s outward appearance makes it very difficult for them to appreciate their qualities and strengths. When your attention toward your body is narrowed and over focused, it becomes difficult to deploy energy to other aspects of your life.Â
Poor body image can lead to physical, psychological and behavioural problems, obsessions about food, dieting, and exercise, and eating disorders. It affects self-esteem and creates feelings of failure and inferiority. Body dissatisfaction is also associated with depression, anxiety, relationship problems, self-contempt, and social introversion.Â
How we help
Changing a person’s perception of their own body image is not easy. By using therapies such as CBT, psychotherapy and counselling, we will help you understand the negative messages making you feel the way you do. You’ll learn to recognise and reframe any negative messages and acknowledge the positive things in your life. We’ll help you discuss your past and explore where these negative attitudes come from.Â
People can fiercely resist thinking differently about their appearance. That’s why we will work with you to change your thinking, giving you strategies and the time to do this. But if your body image issues have come from trauma or abuse, we will use trauma-based therapy techniques to treat it. Finally, one of the key factors to building a better relationship with your body is to increase your self-worth. We can give you the essential tools to grow and improve your self-esteem.Â
How we provide it
We offer therapy & counselling sessions in person at our London offices, over the telephone and online. The sessions usually last from 30 minutes to an hour; and our courses usually consist of around 6 to 12 sessions.Â
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