Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Improving Body Image for All

Session Description: Clinicians working in the SUDS field will encounter many clients with negative body image. While some of the body image issues may relate to a co-occurring Eating Disorder or Body Dysmorphic Disorder, negative body image and “normative discontent” are sadly much too common for many individuals. Criticism is so often projected onto our mirrored reflection and ourselves, causing distress and distraction.

Amidst the many complex steps involved in treating addictions, negative body image and body image disturbance are difficult issues to address. Beliefs about one’s body, including culturally influenced idealizations about shape and size, are developed in multifactorial ways, and the unlearning and reframing of these beliefs are similarly multifaceted.

This session will focus on gaining knowledge that can assist in effectively navigating clients toward a life with a less disordered relationship with the body. This presentation will focus on the truths about body image, accompanied by a variety of multi-theoretical interventions to consider incorporating into ongoing recovery work. Among the strategies highlighted will be decreasing dangerous language traps, applying memorable metaphors, focusing on function-over-form, and unblending the distress projected onto the body. There is no magic cure, but a combination of tools to incorporate into ongoing treatment can help.