Do you constantly check the mirror?
Are you obsessed with the way you look?
Do you only see flaws in your appearance?
As a St. Louis Body Image Counselor, I understand how you feel and would like to help you with your negative body image. I take a holistic approach to help my clients manage or treat their body dysmorphia.
For more information regarding body image therapy call 314-643-8224 or complete an online contact form.
Through counseling, I can help you understand your body dysmorphia, teach you ways to love and accept your body, and treat your body dysmorphic disorder with or without the use of medication. My goal as a therapist, is not just to teach you coping skills, but to eliminate your body dysmorphia.
What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder characterized by the preoccupation with minor or imaginary physical flaws in your appearance. The disorder may make you avoid social events because you are so ashamed or feel embarrassed about your appearance.
When you have BDD, you obsess over the way you look, your physical appearance, your physical flaws, and sometimes repeatedly look at yourself in the mirror for hours at a time. Body dysmorphia can impact your ability to function normally.
No one knows what causes body dysmorphic disorder, but it may be caused by brain abnormalities, genes, and/or environment and culture.
Symptoms
The following are signs and symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. However, no one experiences body dysmorphia in the same way. Symptoms can be physical as well as emotional.
According to Mayo Clinic, symptoms for body dysmorphic disorder include:
- Attempting to hide your flaws with clothes or makeup
- Avoiding social situations
- Being anxious with a perceived flaw in your appearance that others can’t see or seems minor
- Belief that others mock you for your appearance or look at your appearance in a negative way
- Constantly comparing your appearance to others
- Engaging in behaviors that fix or hide your perceived flaw
- Over-obsessing about your appearance in a way that it impacts your daily functioning
- Seeking frequent cosmetic procedures or plastic surgery
- Strong belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly or deformed
If you think you have body dysmorphic disorder, take the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Quiz.
Complications
The following are complications that can stem from body dysmorphic disorder.
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Anxiety disorders
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Thoughts of suicide
Counseling and Treatment for Body Dysmorphic Disorder
I use, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Mindfulness Therapy to help you manage and treat your body dysmorphic disorder, or better yet, eliminate it. We focus on what triggers you to feel this way about your body. Sometimes it is a cognitive process, sometimes it is a past memory. Whatever the trigger, I can help you overcome it.
For more information regarding body image treatment call 314-643-8224 or complete an online contact form.