Counseling Services

Body Image & Body Shame Counseling for Women

Compassionate counseling for women in Hickory, NC, and surrounding communities who are experiencing body-related self-criticism, comparison, shame, or difficulty feeling comfortable in their own bodies.

Your relationship with your body can influence the way you move through nearly every part of life. You may criticize your appearance, compare yourself with other women, avoid photographs or social situations, or believe you need to look different before you can feel confident.

Body shame can become such a familiar part of your internal dialogue that you may barely notice how often it appears.

I can help you begin recognizing those patterns and developing a more compassionate relationship with yourself. I am based in Hickory, North Carolina, and serve women in Hickory, Conover, Newton, Morganton, Statesville, Charlotte, and Lenoir.

Request an Appointment All counseling Services

A Supportive Space

Body Image & Body Shame Counseling at a Glance

Who this is for

Women struggling with body shame, appearance-based self-criticism, comparison, or difficulty feeling comfortable in their bodies

Counseling may support

Recognizing conditioned thought patterns, reducing comparison, developing self-compassion, becoming more present, and separating self-worth from appearance.

My approach

Compassionate, collaborative, personalized, neuroscience-informed, and confidential.

Location

Based in Hickory, NC, serving women throughout the surrounding region.

Next step

Contact me to ask about availability.

The Brain and Nervous System

Understanding Body Image & Body Shame

Body image involves more than whether you like the way you look.
It can influence confidence, relationships, clothing choices, eating, intimacy, photographs, social situations, and the way you speak to yourself.

Your mind may have developed very familiar stories about what your body means about you.
The more often those thoughts are repeated, the more automatic and convincing they can feel. Counseling can help you notice those patterns rather than automatically accepting them as truth.

Space to Understand and Respond

How Counseling Can Help With Body Image & Body Shame

Depending on your needs, counseling may provide:

Space to talk honestly about body shame
Support recognizing harsh internal commentary
Help reducing comparison with other people
Exploration of how past experiences influenced body image
Present-moment skills
Support separating appearance from self-worth
Practical strategies for responding to triggering situations
Help developing a more compassionate relationship with yourself

Recognizing Your Experience

This Support May Be Helpful If…

You frequently criticize your appearance.
You compare your body with other women.
Your mood changes based on how you think you look.
You avoid photographs or certain clothing.
Body concerns interfere with relationships or social situations.
Compliments are difficult to believe.
You feel that changing your body would finally make you acceptable.
You spend significant time mentally evaluating your appearance.
You want to feel more at home in your body.

Working Together

My Approach to Body Image & Body Shame Counseling

I often help clients recognize what I call their “Chatter Girl”, the negative conditioned thought patterns that can become so familiar that they feel like part of who we are.
With body shame, Chatter Girl can be relentless. She may compare, criticize, predict judgment, or tell you that your value depends on how you look.

One goal of our work is to create some separation between you and that constant commentary.
We can also practice returning your attention to the present moment and to your lived experience rather than spending so much time evaluating yourself from the outside.