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5 Tips for Healing Your Self Image
In this post, we’ll talk you through healing your self image, the therapy interventions that can help, and five tips for getting started.
It’s summertime: season of beach days and gatherings with friends and family. With all the warm weather we’re wearing less layers to cover up the parts of our bodies we might feel self-conscious about. Maybe you’re getting ready for a big event like a wedding or reunion, but you’re feeling anxious about how you’ll look and what people will think. In this post, we’ll talk you through healing your self image, the therapy interventions that can help, and five tips for getting started.
What is self image?
Self image is related to what you see when you look in a mirror; however, it goes much deeper than that. Self image also refers to how we see ourselves on a more holistic level, both internally and externally. Self image is also connected to your self-esteem, the way you see yourself affects the way you feel about yourself.
When to seek professional support for your self image
A certain amount of self-consciousness about our bodies is a normal part of being a human in a body around other human bodies – the human brain is wired to notice our similarities and our differences. But sometimes that self-consciousness can lead to profound negative self image, and even self-harm.
There can be many contributing factors to negative self image, from family dynamics to school and workplace culture, to popular media. Maybe you grew up in a family culture where negative body talk was normalized, like a caregiver who made critical comments about their own body—or yours. Maybe it’s because you were bullied at school, or you witnessed other kids get bullied. The media is another common source of negative self image; many of us have been immersed in imagery of idealized body types (thin, white) from a young age.
Whatever the reasons why you might have developed a negative self image, it’s important to know that this is something you can change and heal, with support from a therapist. If the negative self image becomes intrusive to your daily life, making it hard to function or enjoy everyday things, or if it is leading to self-harm behaviors or disordered eating, then it’s time to seek support from a therapist.
What kind of therapy methods can help improve self image?
There are a few different therapeutic approaches that can help improve your self image:
Mindfulness Therapy: Mindfulness Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that helps clients to focus on the present moment. It uses techniques such as breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
Art Therapy: Art therapy involves the use of creative techniques such as drawing, painting, collage, coloring, sculpting, along with others to help clients express themselves through art and recognize the psychological and emotional undertones in their art. Art therapy can help clients interpret the nonverbal messages, symbols, and metaphors often found in these art forms, which can lead them to a better understanding of their feelings and behavior.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a form of therapy that combines cognitive therapy (focusing on helping clients identify their thoughts and how to change the way they think) with behavioral therapy, which is an approach that focuses on changing people’s behavior.
Strengths-Based Therapy: Strengths-based therapy focuses on a person’s internal strengths and resourcefulness to improve resilience and reshape the narratives they’ve believed about themselves.
5 tips to help improve your self image
Focus on recognizing your strengths and achievements. Write them down or make a collage to illustrate them.
Practice positive affirmations, and be consistent with it. Here’s an example affirmation to get you started: My body is my home; I will build it up, not tear it down.
Write a love letter to yourself in which you recognize the value you bring to yourself and others.
Reserve time to take care of yourself, and do the things you love, such as your favorite hobbies.
Try to have a mindful moment by deep breathing when you notice you are having a lot of negative thoughts about your body.
Self image therapy near you
The way you see yourself affects the way you feel about yourself. When we need help seeing ourselves more clearly so that we can honor and love ourselves, a therapist can help. At ECC, we work with patients of all backgrounds and walks of life to heal their self image. Our diverse group of licensed therapists offer a multidisciplinary approach, combining mindfulness, art, and CBT practices to meet clients’ needs. If you’re struggling with your self-image, we’ll connect you with the right therapist and therapy method to help you thrive.
About ECC:
Empowered Connections Counseling is a practice of licensed therapists providing quality, multidisciplinary counseling for adults, children & teens, relationships, and families in Chicago and across Illinois. Whether by in-person session or via telehealth, we work with clients to find the therapist and treatment methods that best suit their needs. Connect meaningfully with your life by booking an appointment today.
Applying Harm Reduction in Mental Health Therapy
In a therapy setting, harm reduction is a useful–and proven–approach to treating people who engage in higher risk behaviors. In this post, we explore how and why harm reduction is improving mental health outcomes.
We utilize the principle of harm reduction in our everyday lives without really thinking about it: recycling, driving with a seat belt, donning protective gear to use power tools, putting on a helmet to ride a bike, or using bandaids or heel guards when wearing new shoes. While these actions don’t completely prevent the possibility of something like a car or bike accident, they reduce the likelihood of life-threatening consequences. In a therapy setting, harm reduction is a useful–and proven–approach to treating people who engage in higher risk behaviors. In this post, we explore how and why harm reduction is improving mental health outcomes.
What is Harm Reduction?
Harm reduction is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that focuses on reducing harm associated with risky behaviors. Its roots began in communities centered around sex work and substance abuse: in the 1980s as the AIDS epidemic grew alongside heroine and crack cocaine addictions, harm reduction became a useful approach for preventing blood-borne infections and treating substance use disorders. But research has shown that harm reduction can be applied anywhere that behavioral harm or risk can occur, i.e., self harm, eating disorders, relational dynamics, maladaptive coping skills, and more.
Harm reduction aims to reduce negative effects of a behavior without stopping the behavior completely or even at all, particularly if stopping that behavior would increase an individual’s distress or create unrealistic expectations that they cannot meet given their current mental health condition. Harm reduction theorizes that pressuring individuals to stop certain behaviors can actually escalate feelings of distress, lead to more of the unwanted behavior, and fuel cycles of guilt and shame.
Critics of the movement have vocalized concern since its inception, saying that harm reduction enables and encourages drug use and other risky behaviors, rather than stopping them. However, its practical applications, such as overdose education and naloxone delivery, have proven highly effective in reducing death rates among substance users, and it is emerging as an effective strategy for other mental health conditions such as self-harm.
Harm reduction also recognizes and prioritizes bodily autonomy, choice, sustainability, and safety by centering individual and community needs, as well as working to minimize the harmful effects of risky behaviors instead of simply ignoring or condemning them.
“Harm reduction holds that society has a responsibility to care for all people, no matter their choices, behaviors, or desires. It views individuals as the sole authority on what happens to their own bodies — and it acknowledges that trying to force an outcome or behavior change on a person who doesn’t want it is not only destined to fail, it’s a violation of their consent and dignity.” – Devon Price, Ph.D., Psychology Today
Because harm reduction centers the person, their needs, and their goals, it is inherently trauma-informed, person-centered, and culturally competent when utilized appropriately.
How Is Harm Reduction Applied in Mental Health Therapy?
In applying a harm reduction approach to mental health treatment, the therapist aims to meet the client where they're at, and without judgment. This means they will take several things into consideration:
The individual's goals: The therapist will not assume that full recovery from a mental health condition such as self-harm, substance use, or an eating disorder is possible or even the client’s own personal goal.
The complexity of recovery: The therapist also acknowledges that recovery from certain mental health conditions is not linear and that relapses happen for a variety of reasons.
Unintended consequences: The therapist is aware that abstaining from a certain behavior such as self-harm or disordered eating can have negative consequences that can trigger distress or lead an individual to engage in other unwanted or unsafe behaviors.
Collaboration: The therapist will prioritize creating a collaborative environment and work with the client to build a treatment plan tailored to their needs and centering their goals.
In harm reduction-based therapy, the goal of treatment is not to stop the individual's behavior but to get curious about what needs those behaviors are meeting for the individual, help them work through those ideas and feelings, and find less harmful ways to live.
Some practical examples of harm reduction strategies look like:
Self-harm: Snapping a rubber band against the wrist whenever the urge to harm becomes overwhelming; learning about proper wound care and safe anatomical positioning.
Eating disorders: Purging once daily instead of three times daily; opting to eat something small, like an apple, instead of nothing; decrease excessive exercise by 10 minute intervals.
High-Risk Sexual Behavior: Get tested regularly; use a condom; use a safeword; use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Unhealthy Relationship Dynamics: Instead of a cut off, begin to institute small boundaries or limit communication.
Addiction: Decreasing the amount of a substance consumed but not abstaining; nicotine patches or gum; using syringe exchange programs or safe consumption sites.
What Are The Benefits of Harm Reduction in Mental Health Therapy?
There are several benefits to harm reduction-based therapy:
It reduces stigma of the risky behavior between the therapist and individual, making it more likely for the individual to continue care, because they know they can receive nonjudgmental support, even if they’ve relapsed.
It makes change more accessible by meeting individuals where they’re at and identifying what is desired or achievable at any given time instead of setting expectations (self, social, familial, cultural) that can’t be met, which can often lead to cycles of shame, disappointment, self deprecation, self hatred, etc.
Positive change vs. coerced change: harm reduction also seeks to transform the individual’s relationship to change itself by facilitating positive, self-led change, rather than coercing them into conforming to outside pressure.
It can help rebuild the individual’s connection to self and open the door to identifying needs by requiring intentionality when engaging with behaviors.
Finding Harm Reduction Support Near You
Harm reduction is all about ending the cycles of shame and fear tied to our riskiest impulses and maladaptive coping mechanisms. When you have a nonjudgmental therapist who is committed to your safety and autonomy, you can feel safe enough to get curious about what needs those behaviors are meeting in your life, and begin to forge your own path toward healing. If you're seeking harm reduction support, reach out to us today. We’ll connect you with the therapist and therapeutic approach to help you thrive.
About ECC:
Empowered Connections Counseling is a practice of licensed therapists providing quality, multidisciplinary counseling for adults, children & teens, relationships, and families in Chicago and across Illinois. Whether by in-person session or via telehealth, we work with clients to find the therapist and treatment methods that best suit their needs. Connect meaningfully with your life by booking an appointment today.