#13 Belonging + Body Dysmorphia

May 16

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In this episode, Dr. Mona welcomes guest and Nour Counseling therapist Asha Simpson to discuss body dysmorphia. As a licensed mental health therapist, Asha has extensive experience working with people with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Asha differentiates between body dysmorphia and eating disorders by explaining that body dysmorphia relates more to the ways we view our bodies in the mirror. When it comes to disordered eating patterns or diagnosed eating disorders, certain behaviors, such as restriction, binging, purging, and dissatisfaction with how the person’s body looks, are prevalent. There may be parts of dysmorphia in eating disorders, but eating disorders aren’t always present with body dysmorphia.

When many people imagine what a person with body dysmorphia looks like, they often picture a straight, white, cisgendered woman. However, Asha explains that many People of Color also have body dysmorphia, but their body expectations are likely to be less Euro-centric. Whether a person wishes to be curvy or thin, they are thinking the same thing: their body isn’t ideal. With her own clients, Asha invites them to consider which environment they find themselves in most often and how that impacts their perception of the “ideal body”. The idea that our bodies have to look a certain way is often rooted in the need to be sexually appealing to a certain population, usually for straight men. This is why we should go back to reclaiming our bodies for ourselves. There is so much more to our bodies than for them to exist solely as sexual objects for others.

Next, Asha outlines some of the things we can do to heal our relationship with our bodies. The first step is understanding that your body is your vehicle for expression. It helps to think of the ways you can ensure that your body experiences pleasant feelings and moves in a way that feels comfortable, regardless of how it may look in the moment. This may include stretching, dancing, swinging, hiking, walking, and basking in the sun. The way we speak to and about our bodies often adds another level of isolation between us and them. Negative words and thoughts about our bodies often prompts shame and withdrawal rather than positive or neutral feelings. Holding on to old clothes that no longer fit our current bodies is yet another barrier for body acceptance.

Before wrapping up, Asha touches on allyship and being supportive for folx with minoritized identities who are struggling with body dysmorphia. It’s important for the person to have an understanding of how they hope to be perceived and why those standards exist. From there, they may be comforted by knowing that they have the authority to deviate from these very cookie cutter gendered standards. Finally, Asha shares that to her, belonging means the ability to take up space.

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1:06 - Dr. Mona introduces today’s guest, Asha Simpson.

2:34 - Eating disorders vs. body dysmorphia.

4:13 - Unpacking the stereotypes and causes of body dysmorphia.

15:55 - Empowering ourselves through our bodies.

19:08 - How to heal our relationship with our bodies.

24:45 - Rethinking the way we speak to and about our bodies.

33:42 - How we can be allies for minorities.

38:15 - What does belonging mean to Asha?

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Learn more about Asha Simpson

Learn more about the Belonging Reimagined Podcast