Monte Nido’s Continuing Education Event
On October 16th, 2024, Monte Nido's Danielle Small, MS, LMFT, CEDS-C, Vice President of Clinical Services at Monte Nido hosted an insightful webinar titled "Challenging Norms – Rejecting Harmful Body Image Beliefs". Body image has long been a topic of discussion, yet much of the conversation has often reinforced harmful norms that are deeply embedded in our society. Danielle Small offers a profound look into these issues in her presentation. Below are some key concepts and systemic challenges that Danielle addresses to help reshape the way we view body image and self-worth.
Key Concepts in Body Image Challenges
- Normative Discontent: It is “normal” for individuals to feel discontent about our bodies and “abnormal” for individuals to feel good about our weight, shape and size. (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984)
- Self-Objectification: The tendency to compare our bodies to an internalized socio-cultural ideal, privileging an external view over internal embodiment, ultimately leading to shame. (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997)
- Body Capital: The investment in our bodies as a source of capital, with value determined by societal standards that favor privileged communities and reinforce social hierarchies.
- Healthism: Worldviews that judge our behaviors based on perceptions of how these behaviors impact our health. Reinforces stigmatization and perpetuates the connection between immorality and inability to meet societal standards.
- Research continues to show that an individual’s level of physical activity is a better indicator of health and fitness than their BMI or weight. (Blair, 1999; McCauley, 2010)
- Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) such as poverty, trauma, environmental racism, minority stressors, stable housing, zip code, food insecurity, childcare, access to community resources, etc. are shown to influence health status more profoundly than weight. (Marmot, 2006)
- Medical community continuously ignores that correlation is not causation, despite continued research evidence that weight is not directly connected to mortality risk
Additional Cultural & Systemic Challenges Impacting Body Image
- Minority Stress and Racial Inequities: Chronically high levels of stress in efforts to avoid discrimination and resulting anxiety through modification of their appearance to meet cultural norms and avoid risk of violence
- Ableism: devaluation of those with disabilities
- Binaries of Feminine & Masculine: Cis-gender and hetero-normative values dictating how and what bodies “should” be
- Ageism: Tensions between increased focus on health and functionality and societal focus on maintaining a youthful appearance; external appearance no longer matching internal perception of self
- Family Systems: perpetuating weight-bias as a protective measure to ensure social acceptance through body capital
Approaches to Healing Body Image
- Developmental Theory of Embodiment (Piran, 2016) identifies keys goals for healing one’s relationship with their body, focusing on emotion regulation, attunement, interoceptive awareness, mindfulness, and personal safety:
- Positive Connection and comfort with the body
- Experience of agency and appreciation of body’s functionality
- Awareness of bodily needs/desires; self-attunement in response to internal needs, allowing for self-care
- Subjective Immersion instead of objectification
- Shame Resilience Theory (Brown, 2004) explores the “Shame Web” of complex and often contradictory expectations for who we should be, how we should be and what we should be. Use of this theory aligns with challenges those with body image issues face, and goals of critical awareness and increased communication/connection are supportive of journey towards embodiment.
- Cognitive Processing Theory (Resick, 1988) addresses common intersection of cognitive distortions around one’s body and personal responsibility for trauma occurring through exploration of “stuck points”.
- Self-Compassion (Neff, 2003) exercises are associated with decreases in body image concerns. Integration of the three core components of mindfulness, common humanity and self-kindness allows individuals to challenge socio-cultural expectations and connect to alternative values.
- The Cognitive Behavioral Interventions developed by Thomas Cash, a key contributor to the research on body image issues, are classics in their treatment (Body Image Diary Cards, corrective thinking exercises, Mindful Mirror Exposures, etc.).
- Psychoeducation for Supports is essential in developing family cultures that challenge weight bias and support embodiment. Encouraging media literacy, practicing agency, allowing for creative expression of self, modeling self-care and self-acceptance, and being an ally in challenging situations are skills providers can aid families to develop.A Call to Challenge Harmful Body Image Norms
A Call to Challenge Harmful Body Image Norms
In her presentation, Danielle Small calls for a critical examination of how body image beliefs are shaped by societal norms and the impact this has on individuals’ mental health. By challenging these harmful norms, individuals and care providers can move toward a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of body image, fostering healing and resilience.
Visit our Monte Nido Continuing Education website to review and register for our future CE offerings. We look forward to seeing you there!
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