DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
What to Do When You Feel Like Crap About Your Body
Feeling terrible about your body? Did you look in the mirror this morning and recoil? Are you filled with shame and self-loathing when you see pictures of yourself? It can be so difficult in sunny San Diego to grapple with your body image when it seems like everyone is wearing shorts and skirts. You catch yourself in a mirror, and you’re flooded with negative thoughts and emotions about your body. It feels paralyzing and isolating. Whether you have an eating disorder, negative body image sucks.
Body shame is very real. We live in a society that equates how our body looks to our value as people. It has historically been tough for women and increasingly challenging for men as the objectification of bodies increases. It can be especially difficult for non-binary people. For all genders of individuals, society often equates appearance to morality. The dehumanization and oppression in such messages are appalling.
How do you cope with all of this negativity? I have three strategies that can get you on the path to body acceptance. These concepts come from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindful self-compassion.
Four Steps to Stomp Out Self-Criticism in Eating Disorder Recovery
Ever wish you could take a break from negative thoughts—like take a vacation from your brain? Feel like you’re on a self-criticism merry-go-round that you can’t get off? Many people struggle with self-criticism, especially those in recovery from eating disorders. It can be easy to be hard on yourself in San Diego, as you see people around you splashing in the ocean and laying on the warm sand. You might think, “what’s wrong with me that I’m not like them?” Even on social media you see everyone else posting about how wonderful their lives are, triggering negative thoughts that crash over you like a wave. You may feel hopeless and that there’s no way out. I want to convey that you CAN get out of the self-criticism cycle and live a more satisfying life. Check out the four steps in this blog post, and you’ll be on your way!
Interview with UCSD Eating Disorder Center's Christin Conkle, LMFT
Hi everyone! I interviewed one of my former marriage and family therapy (MFT) graduate students from Alliant International University. Her name is Christin Conkle, and she is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego. She graduated years ago, so she knew me when I was a new professor at Alliant! She now works at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Eating Disorder Center. She is the lead therapist in the adolescent programs, which provides a partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP) for teens with anorexia, bulimia, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), which is a category that includes subclinical and atypical eating disorders. She is a lovely person who really has a heart for teens and families struggling with eating disorders.