Welcome to the fourth installment of my monthly email for mental health providers with tips on how to support your clients with food, movement, and body image related difficulties. Here’s a link to the past installments.
Hello and happy Spring!! I hope you’re all as elated as I am to shift from my down coat to a lighter jacket, beanie to baseball cap, and nighttime couch sitting to sunset walks. Take some time to enjoy this special time of rediscovering the joy of sun and warm weather!
GOOD NEWS ALERT: I’m newly in-network with Cigna! I’m in the process of credentialing with Aetna, BCBS, United Healthcare, and NYSHIP as well and will let you know when I become in-network.
I’m continuing with the theme of Professional Book Report from last month’s newsletter. This time I’ll be talking about a book I’m loving called Body Neutral: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Body Image Issues by Jessi Kneeland. Body Neutrality is one of my favorite topics to learn and talk about because it has completely changed my relationship with my body, and those of so many of my clients.
Let me backup and explain what body neutrality is for the uninitiated.
Body neutrality is an intentional shift away from body positivity whose messages of “all bodies are beautiful” and “love yourself, flaws and all” are well-meaning and helpful at times, but:
Body neutrality, on the other hand, is about building a sense of yourself and your worth outside of how you look and what people think of you. It’s about learning to see yourself and your body through a more clear, neutral, and objective lens.
Kneeland explains that in order to reach neutrality, one must first accept that their body isn’t actually the problem. Recognize that it’s a big ol’ lie that “if I just lost weight or didn’t have cellulite or fixed my acne, then I would be happy/confident/successful/partnered/social/etc.” At first, it can be a scary realization that there is deeper work to be done, but eventually most people find the understanding quite freeing. I know I did.
Only after realizing this lie can we undertake the complex and meaningful work of examining how and why they became so attached to this lie in the first place. These precious insights will pave the way to strip away the undue significance they’ve been placing on appearance to find neutrality.
Kneeland proposes the following questions to get started:
This work can be highly challenging and varied — and that’s what I love most about it. If this way of approaching body image work gets you excited too, I absolutely recommend checking out Kneeland’s book Body Neutral. I've also suggested it to a handful of clients. It’s full of really practical and applicable ideas.
Thanks for reading!
Be well,
Laura Silver, MS, RD, CDN
