Body Image Therapy in New York, NY
Our psychotherapists at Steady NYC in Midtown Manhattan, New York can help you address issues related to body acceptance and empower you with skills and tools to move closer to body acceptance.
Body acceptance is something many people struggle with. We are constantly bombarded with images of photoshopped and filtered bodies on the internet, on social media, and on TV, and in magazines. These images reflect someone else’s ideas of what a body should look like. The danger comes when we consciously or subconsciously internalize these messages and begin to believe that a body should look that way. The images can set us up for failure because they aren’t real.
What Is Body Acceptance?
To put it succinctly, body acceptance is having a neutral or positive image in your mind of your body and being at peace with how your body looks, feels, functions, and moves. But issues related to body acceptance are generally much deeper and require the help of a trained therapist to understand, process, and accept.
Body acceptance issues are, in general, more prevalent in women; however, men can also have negative or unhealthy thoughts and beliefs about their bodies. The key is to understand where these negative thoughts and beliefs originated and then work in therapy to achieve a healthier, more positive mindset and ultimately, body acceptance.
You Are Not Alone
In a recent study with a sample of approximately 900 young adults — more than 40% of women and more than 45% of men — agreed it would be worse to gain 25 pounds during the pandemic than to become infected with covid-19. This is not a particularly surprising finding. It sadly illustrates how pervasive body shaming and negative body image is throughout our culture.
With digital media, we have many tools that allow us to manipulate pictures, add filters, and create so-called perfect images. And even though, on a practical and intellectual level, we may know these images have been purposefully distorted and manipulated, we can still struggle with body acceptance. It is difficult to accept your body as it is when you’re constantly comparing yourself to these images. We’re left feeling we aren’t slender enough or muscular enough or curvy enough or attractive enough…and that leads us to feel that we, ourselves, are not enough.
At Steady NYC our therapists can help you address and overcome body acceptance issues.
Shame and Body Acceptance
Shame is particularly pervasive among people with body acceptance issues. And it can be a significant contributing factor to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteems or feelings of low self-worth. When the image of our bodies is distorted from reality, as is often the case with people struggling with body acceptance, there can be feelings of unworthiness, failure, isolation, and deep shame.
Our therapists are holistically oriented and trauma centered and can help bridge the gap between perception and reality. And we do that by taking a look at all of the parts of a person — their past history, any trauma or significant experiences, and their current social, physical, mental, and emotional state. By taking this holistic inventory we can begin to help clients regain a sense of self, build greater self-esteem and self-acceptance, and achieve a deeper level of body acceptance.
Support For Body Acceptance
We are a trauma-informed practice, which means we consider that many (if not most clients) bring some history of trauma, in some form or another, to the therapy session in Midtown Manhattan, New York. By looking through the lens of past or present trauma, we can work with clients to identify and acknowledge the role that trauma may have played in achieving body acceptance.
We know that emotional health greatly influences how the mind and body respond in times of stress or in reaction to past or present trauma. Body acceptance helps people feel confident and at peace with their bodies, regardless of their unique body shape or size, skin tone, gender, or physical abilities.
Our team of highly trained, highly credentialed therapists will help clients achieve greater body acceptance. Using tools such as mindfulness and acceptance, as well as self-compassionate mind-body healing methods, we can begin to replace negative thought patterns and negative emotions with more positive ones. Over time, the objective is to move closer toward a more positive, more healthy view of your body: body acceptance. Contact us today.
