Weight and size discrimination or idealization is a social justice issue that hurts everyone. With body preoccupation and eating disorders on the rise, I see it as my job as a therapist to also acknowledge the systems and structures that bring people to my office in the first place. There is so much to be said on this topic but for the sake of brevity I will point out one of those realities: People in larger bodies are disproportionately from marginalized and disadvantaged groups, namely, people of color and poorer populations.

Aimee Schiefelbein, Seattle Counselor | People experience body shame in complex ways. It can creep up with little awareness on our part and before we know it, we are caught in it. How do you begin to recognize when this is happening?

One of the challenges to understanding how you are being impacted by body shame are the competing and conflicting social-community expectations...