Therapy for Negative Body Image & Low Self-Esteem

Virtual Therapy available for Colorado Residents & Virtual Coaching/Consulting available Worldwide

In a world that constantly objectifies and judges our bodies and health, many people themselves feeling not-good-enough.

Most people who are struggling with negative body image, low self-esteem, or disordered eating feel like they're constantly struggling with inner criticisms and fighting the urge to buy into diet culture, even if they know it isn't a sustainable or aligned answer.

Perhaps you can relate.

Maybe you feel like you want to escape your life or you find yourself constantly criticizing your body and appearance.

Stuck in negativity and feeling trapped in a body that you can’t seem to love, it can feel like your life is consumed by self-loathing and shame.

Do You Feel Insecure, Ashamed, Hopeless?

Do any of the following resonate with you?

  • You struggle to look in the mirror and find anything positive to say about yourself.

  • You feel undeserving or unworthy of eating the food you desire or wearing the clothes that you love.

  • You find yourself constantly criticizing your body's appearance, size, ability, or presentation. You say things to yourself that you would never say to another person.

  • You often use the words "good" or "bad" to describe the choices you make about food, movement, and/or your body.

  • You find it difficult to believe that anyone else would see you as beautiful, attractive, or desirable.

If these sound true for you, I want you to know that even though it can feel impossible, it is absolutely possible to build a respectful and loving relationship with your body and your self.

You deserve to feel at home in your body, no matter your shape, size, ability or appearance.

You don’t have to keep putting yourself last, caring for everyone else before you take care of yourself.

Body Image & Low Self-Esteem Can Help You Feel Worthy of Taking Up Space

It’s possible to feel better. Imagine a life where you could...

  • Build strategies for actionable self-love, so you can care for your self/body with consistency

  • Unlearn internalized oppressive body ideals that are rooted in racist, sexist, ableist standards

  • Feel embodied and present in life; able to focus on what you're feeling/experiencing rather than being preoccupied with others' perceptions/judgments of you

  • Find a sense of freedom around eating, movement, and self-expression

  • Devote your precious resources (time, energy, money, etc) to things that bring you joy and fulfillment, rather than getting ensnared into diet-marketing traps that profit from your insecurities

FAQs

  • Body Image & Low Self-Esteem helps you rise above your challenges and start moving towards your ideal life with less less shame and more courage

    You will get you the fresh perspective you need to change your behavoirs and beliefs gradually and see that you deserve kindness and forgiveness - the same that you give to others.

    Even if you are not sure if your problem is serious enough, Body Image & Low Self-Esteem may be able to help.

  • Many people delay getting support on their body image / self-esteem struggles because it doesn't feel serious enough. This is so common that Jennifer Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-C titled her book of articles on disordered eating “Sick Enough”! (as in, yes, if you’re struggling you are sick enough to deserve care).

    Having said that, even if you don’t feel like your problem is “that bad”, it is exhausting to spend so much energy spiraling in self-criticism.

    I love seeing folks break free from cycles of body shame, because suddenly they have all this energy that can be devoted towards their dreams, their hopes, and their community.

  • Our work together will generally involve 50-minute, one-on-one sessions that help you work through your therapeutic goals.

    In addition to listening, I will ask questions and provide guidance based on my experience.

    Here’s how it will work step-by-step:

    1. First, I provide a safe, accepting space so that you will feel comfortable sharing your struggles with me.
    2. Through hearing your story, I will start to get a picture of what your challenges are.
    3. We will start with helping you with immediate concerns like managing difficult emotions and challenging life situations.
    4. We will also work to discover what your goals are in therapy and in life.
    5. Keeping your unique goals in mind, we’ll figure out what’s needed to help you reach them
    6. Over the course of our sessions, you will start making progress towards the life you desire.

    Depending on whether you want to focus fully on Body Image/Self-Esteem or whether you have additional healing goals (like trauma healing, identity development, anxiety-reduction, etc.), this would affect the way we might structure your goals and our time together.

  • Depending on your unique goals, needs, and preferences, we may use any of the following modalities to support you in your healing and growth:

    • Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy

    • Narrative Therapy

    • Parts Work (Internal Family Systems)

    • Motivational Interviewing

    • Feminist, Anti-Oppressive Therapy

    • Somatic Counseling

    • EMDR

    Our relationship with Self (body, mind, spirit) is complex - which makes it difficult to provide a simple/straight-forward roadmap for our potential work together.

    For more information about how I might support you specifically, feel free to schedule a free consult.

  • Good question! I started my career specializing in supporting folks with Eating Disorders, so I do have experience working with folks who experience clinical severity in their symptoms.

    Having said that, I find that I do my best work outside the traditional ED triage care-model (where you have a careteam that coordinates around your treatment that usually includes a nutritionist/dietitian, therapist, group setting, psychiatrist if necessary, etc.).

    I know that many people with more severe ED behaviors benefit from this care model and prefer the additional support, so I simply like to clarify that this isn’t my focus.

    I find that I am a good fit for:

    -folks who have been in recovery from their ED and don’t need/want acute care (like hospitalization, in-patient care or intensive out-patient)

    -folks for whom mainstream ED treatment is inaccessible or potentially harmful due to gender identity, size, race, ability, etc.

    -Autistic and/or ADHD folks who struggle with ARFID-related symptoms

    -folks who are seeking to unlearn oppressive body ideals so they can feel more aligned with their personal values

    -folks who have a team for their ED care and want to work with a therapist who is ED-informed but can support them with other aspects of their healing process

    -folks whose ED behaviors or body image/self-esteem stem from trauma-related experiences

    … as well as folks who are seeking a non-traditional support for self-esteem, body image, and disordered eating!

    You can always ask me more questions about this in a consult if you’re curious/uncertain whether I have the right skill-set, approach, and values to support you in your current goals.

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