What is Body Image?
Life’s challenges can be overwhelming; everyone deserves a space to feel heard and supported. At Roamers Therapy, we provide trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and evidence-based environments to help you heal, grow, and navigate your mental well-being journey. As your psychotherapist, we are here to guide you every step of the way.
Body image is a person’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of their own body. This could be how beautiful, attractive, or sexually appealing people view their bodies. Like most cognitions, body image is neutral; meaning people can have positive or negative perceptions of their bodies. Someone can feel beautiful, unattractive, or overweight. Additionally, some people may even have distorted perceptions of their bodies. Some people me feel more unappealing than other people view them. Similarly, some people may have grandiose views of their bodies.
How Does Body Image Affect my Self-esteem?
Like many other cognitions, body image can be positive or negative, and both can have big impacts on our self-esteem. Having a positive self-esteem can mean a person feels beautiful, attractive, or even comfortable in their own skin. Someone with a negative body image may tend to feel unattractive and uncomfortable in their skin. They tend to develop low self-esteem and have low confidence. Having a negative body image and low self-esteem can be very debilitating and anyone can experience it. It can lead to anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and in some instances, disordered eating.
Find the Best Therapist in Chicago for Developing a More Positive Body image
Developing a more positive body image is a journey of self-love. It takes time to unlearn the societal views and standards of beauty that are ingrained in us. However, there are a couple of things you can do to challenge these thoughts. First, take inventory of the neutral things about your body – this is things like “My body wakes up every morning.” Second, write down the things you like about your body. Finally, write down the things you dislike about your body and then try to turn them into positives. Let’s say you don’t like the way your legs look, try to turn them into positives. You can do this by saying things like, “My legs are strong and can carry me places.” Your therapist can also help you challenge these thoughts.
At Roamers Therapy, our psychotherapists are here to support you through anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship issues, race-ethnicity issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, ADHD, Autism, or any challenges you encounter. Our psychotherapists are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Acceptance, and Commitment Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Gottman Therapy.
Whether you’re seeking guidance on a specific issue or need help navigating difficult emotions, we’re ready to assist you every step of the way.
Contact us today to learn more about our services and schedule a session with our mental health professionals to begin your healing journey. To get started with therapy, visit our booking page.
First, decide if you’ll be paying out-of-pocket or using insurance. If you’re a self-pay client, you can book directly through the “Book Now” page or fill out the “Self-Pay/Out-of-network Inquiry Form.” If you’re using insurance, fill out the “Insurance Verification Form” to receive details about your costs and availability. Please let us know your preferred therapist. If your preferred therapist isn’t available, you can join the waitlist by emailing us. Once your appointment is confirmed, you’ll receive intake documents to complete before your first session.
This page is also part of the Roamers Therapy Glossary; a collection of mental-health related definitions that are written by our therapists.
While our offices are currently located at the South Loop neighborhood of Downtown Chicago, Illinois, we also welcome and serve clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Rogers Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more. You can visit our contact page to access detailed information on our office location.