Body Image Issues

I am a Health at Every Size (HAES) practitioner and a fierce advocate for body acceptance and liberation. I believe all bodies are good bodies, regardless of size, shape, or ability.

Alyson is an eating disorder specialist and understands the complexity of the relationship with one's body image. There are so many factors that impact our relationship with our body from diet culture to weight bias and racism. In therapy, Alyson believes it is crucial to explore the underlying causes of body image concerns and develop a more weight neutral stance to identity.

Body image issues and eating disorders are sometimes co-occurring for some clients with anxiety disorders. For the past two years I have worked with adolescents and adults who struggle with body image.

Our society encourages us to feel bad about our bodies. Together, we will find ways for you to accept yourself as you are. I will encourage you to focus on what your body can do instead of what it “should” look like. I will support you in pursuing better health at any size while feeling happier in your own skin.

Do you find yourself spending hours in front of the mirror? Have you ever felt that wave of anxiety when your go-to pair of jeans fits a little different than they did yesterday? Your body image is not a superficial problem. Your body is your home, a place in which you deserve to feel safe, peaceful, and connected. When you're at war with your body, its exhausting, frustrating, and maybe even intolerable. It's time for you and your body to get on the same page. Let's talk about it.

I work with Body Image concerns, including but not limited to: Body Dysmorphia; Eating Disorders; Weight Gain/Loss; Food Shame; Food Addiction; Exercise Addiction; Familial Trauma; Bullying/Harassment; Kink; Puberty and Body Changes; Gender Exploration; Plastic Surgery; Ageing; Pregnancy; Reclamation of Self

I facilitate a body liberation focused body image group for those looking to not only explore their own relationship with their body but also explore cultural influences on our beliefs related to health, bodies and food.

Body image and self worth have huge impacts on how we live our lives. I believe ideal body image is a social construct, and want to help you challenge your views on your body. I aim to help you recognize how you came to view yourself as you do, work to challenge it, and work to create a healthier, more realistic self-image. When we are able to accept and be kind to ourselves, it improves relationships with others, social skills, and overall functioning.

Diet culture is a system of belief that equates thinness to moral value, sees weight loss as a status gain, and oppresses people for not fitting their definition of “healthy”. It has been found to contribute to disordered eating behavior, fatphobia, and weight stigma. Many therapists reinforce these systems of oppression and stigma and can cause harm to their clients. These effects are often magnified for fat or larger-bodied clients. I believe in HAES, weight-neutrality, & body liberation.

Constantly criticizing our looks and having persistent low self-esteem in our appearance seems to be a norm in our culture. Finding freedom from our own negative beliefs can be the biggest act of kindness you give yourself.

Diet industry and fat phobic culture continues to grow more profitable for corporations fueled by the old shame cycle perpetuated by pseudo-science now debunked that diets don't work and never have for over the hundreds thousands of years for homo sapiens. We had to evolve to survive famines and droughts so our bodies fight this whole process of trying to intentionally loose weight. Time to learn to be free of this diet culture and fat phobia and work on body liberation.

I will help you find a way to make peace with your body and to trust your body in a way that deemphasizes the focus you place on your body.

My goal is to provide you with a better understanding of the factors that impact your unique body image struggles while promoting body acceptance and self-compassion for individuals of all shapes and sizes.

I strongly believe that there is a body image crisis in our culture, manufactured by the media, beauty companies/advertisers, diet culture, and the patriarchy. I am a fat-positive therapist who has studied the work of Lindo Bacon (Health at Every Size, Body Respect) and is part of a community of therapists committed to body acceptance principles for clients of all body types. If you have struggled with feeling worthy in your body, I would be honored to walk the path to healing with you.

If you struggle with feelings of anxiety and self-judgment regarding your physical body's appearance or abilities, and feel overwhelmed and hopeless because of these painful feelings there are things we can work on together to help you find a more peaceful, kind, and functional way to relate to your body and food. I have worked in residential, partial hospitalization, and outpatient levels of care to treat eating disorders and body image concerns, and I want to share that experience to help you.

Body image struggles are common, yet painful. I support individuals with exploring where their body image struggles are coming from and developing practicing to build a more compassionate relationship to the body.