So many of my body image clients dread the changing of the seasons. Not because they dislike ocean breezes or summer nights, but because they feel confronted by their bodies in a frustrating way.
Last year’s shorts don’t fit quite the same..
The return of thigh chafe, sweating, overheating, or feeling overstimulated in the heat.
Dreading the search for a “flattering” swimsuit.
The tension between wanting to stay cool, but not wanting to wear clothing that exposes more of their bodies.
All of these experiences remind us that we have a body and that other people can see it, often awakening a body-focused inner critic that knows exactly how to provoke body disgust, shame, anxiety, comparison, or the relentless feeling of being evaluated and scrutinized.
Ugh, I really let myself go.
I can’t go out looking like this.
I am so gross!
Cover up!
These body-focused inner critics can live inside even the most body-liberated, body-positive, weight-inclusive people.
You can wholeheartedly believe that every person deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to participate fully in life while still struggling to extend those same beliefs to yourself.
Body shame doesn’t always live in our values. It lives in the deep recesses of our being, in old emotional learning, deeply ingrained patterns, and the countless messages we’ve absorbed over a lifetime. That’s why simply knowing better rarely makes us feel better.
Healing asks us to practice new thoughts and behaviors, over and over again, until new experiences begin to challenge the old stories…and the new story starts to feel more believable than the old one.
That’s why I created Reclaim Your Beach Body Legacy: A Self-Paced Workshop for Body Image Resilience Across Generations
The goal of this 6-part series is to help you leverage your commitment to your children’s body image resilience to fuel your own body image healing.
It's not therapy. But I am a body image therapist, and every workshop I create is grounded in the science of how body image healing happens. They're designed to help you create the kinds of experiences that make healing possible and, ideally, make it just a little easier to slip into that swimsuit this summer.
What’s Included?
Six self-paced video lessons with me that you can revisit anytime your body image starts to feel loud—not just during swimsuit season.
Practical tools for navigating vulnerable body moments like swimsuits, mirrors, family photos, vacations, getting dressed, and the everyday situations that tend to activate body shame.
A new way of understanding your body-focused inner critic so you can respond with more flexibility and self-compassion instead of getting pulled into the same old patterns.
Guidance for thinking about food and eating so you can better understand how your relationship with food influences your relationship with your body—and vice versa.
Narrative and reflective practices that help loosen the grip of body shame and begin creating a new relationship with your body—one small shift at a time.
Thoughtfully selected reading recommendations to deepen your understanding and support your healing beyond the course.
Reflection exercises and guided homework that help transform insight into lived experience.
Concrete ways to model body image resilience for your children without pretending to love your body every day
A resource you’ll return to year after year, whenever body image feels especially vulnerable, whether that’s swimsuit season, a vacation, the holidays, or simply a hard day in your body.
Oh, and with the current Summer Sale discount, this is all yours for $48 (or $8/month)!
Here’s the full roadmap:
Disclaimer: This workshop is intended as a self-help, educational experience focused on body image resilience and is not a substitute for therapy. If you are seeking therapy or need professional support, please consult a licensed mental health professional.
Module 1
This 1st module is FREE for all. Here’s what it covers:
Why swimsuit season can feel so emotionally loaded, even when you’ve done years of therapy!
How covering up and body avoidance can make your body image worse.
How our body image influences our kids’ body image
How to leverage your own body image repair work to support your kids’ body image resilliance
Module 2
Here’s what it covers:
The differences between body-positivity, body image, and embodiment.
How many of us have misunderstood our “body problems”.
Ways our efforts to fix our bodies have made our body image worse.
A new, more empowering way to think about the problems AND solutions.
5 deeply healing homework assignments to help integrate this work.
Module 3
Here’s what it covers:
How our food attitudes, patterns, and beliefs can support—or undermine—body image, embodiment, and wellbeing.
Why restriction so often backfires and can deepen preoccupation, distress, and disconnection.
Ways to identify and gently challenge unhelpful food rules and beliefs.
How the feeding strategies we use with our kids may also help us reconnect with and nourish parts of ourselves.
A more expansive way to think about eating: not as body control, but as support for living well in the body you have.
Module 4
Here’s what it covers:
The four, primary behavioral traps that many of us fall into without realizing it, that make our body image worse
How to recognize these patterns, strategically loosen their grip, and move toward a more peaceful relationship with your body.
How becoming more body image savvy helps us recognize these same traps earlier in our children.
Ways to support kids with more clarity, confidence, and compassion when body distress shows up.
How interrupting harmful patterns creates more space for connection, joy, and body trust across the whole family.
Module 5
Here’s what it covers:
Why mirrors can become complicated terrain in a culture of thinness, control, and self-surveillance.
How to use “mirror exposure” to better tolerate your reflection and retrain your eyes to see more neutrally.
Two guided exposure practices to help shift your relationship with your body:
Body NeutralEYES: inspired by mirror exposure therapy and designed to interrupt self-critique.
Embodiment exposure: practicing being inside and with parts of your body you may have avoided or judged.
Ways to turn these practices into everyday rituals that support deeper, more lasting body peace.
Module 6
Here’s what it covers:
Building on the work of loosening body shame and replacing patterns that no longer serve us.
Exploring the power of narrative—and how the way we talk to ourselves shapes body image for both us and our kids.
Three foundational practices for body image healing:
Body Grief: making space to mourn what your body has been through, what diet culture took, and what you were taught to believe.
Body Neutrality: learning to care for and live in the body you have—no positive feelings required.
Body Gratitude: building appreciation for your body’s function, presence, and resilience without forcing positivity.
Developing language to better understand and honor your own body experience.
Using these practices to help your children build stronger, kinder body narratives.
Learning how changing the story you tell yourself can change the story you pass on.
Bonus
Dacy Gillespie is a size-inclusive stylist who has an amazing Substack community I highly recommend. We had an amazing conversation about how to harness the power of your closet to improve your body image, at whatever size you are today.
I feel so strongly that this course can help you feel better in your body that if you truly engage with the modules, complete the homework, and feel no meaningful shift, I’ll refund your subscription. No questions asked.
To be clear, we are not after radical body love. We’re after little shifts. Glimmers of something new. Moments of softer self-talk, less avoidance, more participation, more neutrality, more presence. Tiny signs that your relationship with your body is becoming a little less fraught and a little more peaceful.
Yes, I want this course to help you step into a swimsuit that actually fits with greater ease….but I’m really after is something bigger:
That the legacy you create this summer is one of visibility, body trust, resilience, and embodiment—for your children, your grandchildren, and perhaps even the inner child in you.
And remember, when you become a paid subscriber, you’re not just getting access to this Body Image Course.
You’ll unlock my entire workshop library, including all 9-parts of The 10 Core Beliefs of a Body-Positive Home, Shame-Free Food Limits, Protecting Kids’ Body Image in Aesthetic Sports, and every future workshop I create.
It’s a growing library of practical, evidence-informed resources designed to help you nurture body image resilience in yourself and the children you love.
And if a paid subscription is not right for you right now, liking and sharing this post is a wonderful way to support my work too!
All content shared here is protected under applicable copyright, trademark, and other proprietary rights. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional, medical, or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Engaging with this content does not establish a professional or therapeutic relationship. If you have concerns about your or your child’s health, mental health, or safety, please consult a qualified medical or mental health professional.
Thank you for this!! Aligns with a therapy goal of mine these days, so definitely planning to be intentional in this work in the coming weeks. I so appreciate all of the work you do out there in the world!
Thank you ! And thanks for spreading the word about this resource. I wish we could also help caregivers and parents find the time in their already packed schedules to do this critical work ❤️