Positive Bodies: Loving the Skin You"re In (ebook)

Argumento de Positive Bodies: Loving the Skin You"re In (ebook)

Dr Vivienne Lewis is a clinical psychologist at the University of Canberra, Australia, specialising in eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder. She has been an active researcher in the area of body image for over 15 years publishing scientific papers and presenting her research at international conferences. She currently supervises research students and trainee psychologists in the area of body image and wellbeing and has run numerous group programs over the past 7 years promoting positive body image as well as working individually in private practice with men, women, adolescents, and children. She also assists parents and teachers in being positive role models for children. Vivienne is a strong advocate for celebrating body diversity and reducing the anxiety and stress often associated with body image to allow us all to live a happier more comfortable life.

Our body image is unique to us and our own experiences. While we might describe two people as both having a negative body image, their experiences are likely to be quite different. The parts of their body that they dislike will most likely differ along with the different events that trigger their distress. It is also likely that they have very different thoughts and feelings about their bodies and handle their problems in very different ways. It is often the importance we place on appearance, for example, that determines how our own perception will affect us. Therefore, your own body image experience is unique to you. The following chapter will help you see where your beliefs about and feelings towards your body may have come from, and in later chapters how you challenge these to feel more positive about your body.
It is worthwhile spending some time trying to understand your own body image. What parts of your body are you unhappy with? What situations trigger distress and lead you to feel negatively towards your body? What beliefs and assumptions do you have about your own body and about physical appearance in general and how do these affect the way you feel? What do you do to cope with these negative feelings? Answering such questions can not only assist you in understanding your current body image experience but can also help you identify particular areas that may be in need of change. It can be helpful when working on your goals to focus on how you’d like to feel, think and behave differently about and towards your body. For example, ‘I’d like to feel more love towards my stomach, I’d like to stop overeating every day, and I’d like to exercise for fun’. Focus on what you’d like to do differently and put it in the positive. Remember to be specific and also think of how you’d measure the change, how you’d know when you’ve achieved your goals. There might some behaviours you’d like to increase such as fun activities and more exercise, and others you’d like to decrease such as overeating, starving yourself or exercising only for weight loss.0