Body Image Healing
Reclaim Your Body. Reclaim Yourself.
in person in Lynnwood, WA and through telehealth for clients throughout WA & CA
If your relationship with your body feels complicated, painful, or disconnected— you’re not alone.
Maybe you’ve spent years criticizing your body, trying to fix it, shrink it, or ignore it altogether.
Maybe you’ve learned to disconnect from it entirely—because being in your body hasn’t always felt safe.
You might:
Feel shame around eating, movement, or how your body looks
Obsess over your appearance, but still never feel “enough”
Avoid mirrors or photos because they trigger pain or judgment
Struggle to trust your body’s cues—or even notice them
Carry trauma that makes embodiment feel foreign or overwhelming
Even if no one ever taught you how to be at home in your body, you can learn. You can reconnect—not through force or perfectionism, but through curiosity, compassion, and gentle healing.
Your Body Is Not the Problem
Many of my clients were told—directly or indirectly—that their bodies were too much, not enough, or needed to be controlled. Some were shamed by family members. Others absorbed harmful cultural messages about beauty, race, gender, or weight. And for many, this shame runs deep—rooted in trauma, neglect, or being chronically misunderstood.
Body image issues are rarely just about the body. They’re often about worthiness, identity, and what it means to take up space in a world that may have made you feel unsafe or unseen.
How Therapy Can Help You Heal Your Relationship with Your Body
In our work together, you’ll be invited to:
Understand the deeper roots of body shame, especially those tied to early relational wounds
Explore the protective parts of you that criticize or disconnect from your body
Reconnect with your body’s wisdom through gentle, somatic practices
Process trauma memories that shaped your relationship with your body
Build a new relationship with food, movement, and rest that’s rooted in compassion, not control
My Approach to Body Image Healing
I blend trauma-informed, body-based modalities that help you shift your relationship with your body from the inside out:
IFS (Internal Family Systems): Helps us understand and heal the critical or protective parts that hold body shame
EMDR: Reprocesses painful experiences that taught you your body wasn’t safe or acceptable
Somatic Experiencing: Rebuilds a felt sense of safety in your body so you can be more present, grounded, and free
This work isn’t about loving your body overnight. It’s about developing respect, trust, and connection—at your own pace.
Ready for focused, intentional time to heal your relationship with your body?
Explore the Body Image EMDR Intensive
I Specialize in Working with Women, BIPOC Clients & Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Many of my clients hold intersecting burdens—like growing up in a family that valued performance over emotional presence, or navigating beauty standards that don’t reflect their culture or body type.
Others have internalized the pressure to be “the good daughter,” the overachiever, or the one who never lets anyone down—while silently disconnecting from their own needs and body.
I hold space for all of that. In our work, there’s no pressure to perform or “get it right.” Just room for you to be seen, heard, and supported as you come home to yourself.
Body Image Healing FAQs
1. Is body image therapy the same as eating disorder treatment?
Not exactly. Body image therapy focuses on healing your relationship with your body: the shame, criticism, comparison and disconnection that often begin in childhood or culture. Eating disorder treatment is more specialized and often involves a medical team, a dietitian and sometimes a higher level of care. I work with adults healing body shame, chronic dieting, food guilt and the trauma underneath them. If you're currently struggling with an active eating disorder, such as anorexia, bulimia or ARFID, we'll talk about whether you need specialized eating disorder care first, or alongside our work, and I'm happy to coordinate with your treatment team.
2. Do you follow Health at Every Size?
Yes. My approach is weight-inclusive and informed by Health at Every Size (HAES®) and intuitive eating. That means our work is never about changing your body, losing weight or following food rules. Instead, we focus on healing the shame and trauma that taught you your body was a problem, so you can relate to food, movement and your body with more trust and kindness. All bodies are welcome here.
3. Can body image issues be trauma?
Yes. Body image struggles are often rooted in trauma, especially when they began with criticism about your weight or appearance, being put on diets as a child, bullying, sexual trauma or cultural messages that your body was "too much" or "not enough." These experiences get stored in the nervous system as shame and self-protection. That's why body image trauma often doesn't go away with willpower or positive thinking. Using EMDR, IFS and Somatic Experiencing, we work with those roots directly, so your body can start to feel like a safer place to live.
4. Can body image therapy be done online?
Yes. I offer body image therapy online for adults anywhere in Washington and California, and in person in Lynnwood, WA. Many clients find it easier to explore body shame from the privacy of their own home.
Healing is Your Birthright
You don’t have to keep fighting your body.
You deserve a relationship with your body that feels safe, respectful, and true.
No matter how far away that might feel right now—healing is possible.
Let’s Talk
If this resonates with you, I invite you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation. We’ll talk about what’s been coming up for you, how I can help, and whether working together feels like a good fit.