Overcoming Body Image Issues

The 8 Most Beautiful & Inspiring Poems About Body Image

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | April 13, 2023 |

I want to talk to the body-haters out there. Look in the mirror, then fill in the blank: “I hate my…..” What body part du jour grabbed your disapproval this time? Your thighs? Hips? Stomach? Butt? Chin? Neck? Cultivating love for your own body is easier said than done and takes more than cliché affirmations…

3 Reasons So Many People Strongly Link Their Body Image And Self-Worth

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | January 31, 2023 |

Of all the “self-qualities” in one’s life portfolio, self-worth is the one that should be the unconditional foundation to all the others. Do you believe you’re a good person, deserving of respect? Do you tether yourself to life by inherent worth that worldly whims and expectations can’t strangle or sever? “Of course,” you may say.…

Social Media Affecting Your Body Image? Take These 5 Positive Steps

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | January 30, 2023 |

Be honest. Is social media affecting your body image? Do you find yourself masking your true feelings behind a heart emoji? Pretending your peripheral vision doesn’t catch a comparative glance at the red-carpet and beach bodies vying for your eye-time? Unless you live in a bunker, the answer is probably yes. Social media has rapidly…

Are Body Positive Images Really Helpful For People With Body Image Issues?

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | January 27, 2023 |

Corsets, bikinis, skinny jeans, stilettos. Every culture has its version of the contrived ideal body and the clothes that should fit it. We all buy into it because it’s pumped into the very air we breathe, trying as we may to hold our breath in protest. Inclusive advertising, body positive images, anti-bullying campaigns — what,…

The Latest Findings In Body Image Research & How They Can Help You Fall In Love With Your Body

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | January 1, 2023 |

Times change. People change. Bodies change. But interestingly, findings from body image research haven’t changed much in the past 30 years. Sadly, the common thread of impossible beauty standards still stitches its way through the world’s many cultures. And people still struggle to like, let alone love, what they see in the mirror. In the…

Take this Body Image Questionnaire and Discover How You Can Love Your Body More

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | December 17, 2022 |

What does Albert Einstein have to do with body image? Perhaps not so much in the direct sense. But, as one revered for his astronomical mind and theories, he favored insatiable curiosity and great questions over the presumption of absolutes. A body image questionnaire, then, if composed of key questions, could lead the open-minded, curious…

Two apples, one of which is a distorted size to show an example of body image dysphoria

What Exactly Is Body Image Dysmorphia? (And What Can You Do About It?)

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | September 26, 2022 |

There’s one relationship you can’t escape: the one with yourself. And that relationship extends to what you see in the mirror and how you perceive and respond to it. Most of us see things we would like to change. But, for some people, those little wishes or cues for a “healthier” lifestyle are replaced by…

The roots and bottom section of interestingly shaped trees metaphoritcally represent body image ideas of good and bad

What Is A Bad Body Image Really?

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | June 13, 2022 |

Bodies are neither good nor bad. Body image, however, can’t say the same. Good, bad, or somewhere in between, body image isn’t really about your body at all. It’s about the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions you have about it. Positive thoughts and feelings? Good body image. Negative thoughts and feelings? Bad body image.  For most…

It’s Not (Only) About Beauty: The Damage Beach Body Images Do To ALL Of Us

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | June 5, 2022 |

You’ve probably heard the saying about beach body images. The one that goes like this: If you want a beach body, go to the beach. With your body. Now you have a beach body! Sigh. If only we were all socialized to feel that eeezy breezy. But we’re not. We feel self conscious. If we…

a young black boy showing male body image issues do not start off at a young age

Three Reasons Male Body Image Issues Aren’t Discussed As Frequently As Females’

By Dr. Elayne Daniels | May 13, 2022 |

Bikini-prepping, Keto dieting, scales, tape measures, photo filters, celebrity icons, and constant self-evaluation in the company of a mirror. We may know it’s not healthy, yet somehow society has developed a collective “not-surprised” numbness to girls and body image issues.  But what about guys?  Why don’t we hear about male body image issues the way…

Welcome to my Blog

​Here I get real on body image, eating, sex, yoga and more. Sometimes the topics are more random. All relate to psychology (after all, I am a psychologist!)             --Dr.D