Understanding the Components of Body Image: A Therapist’s Perspective
We hear the phrase body image tossed around often—on social media, in therapy, in classrooms—but what does it actually mean?
As a therapist who works with trauma, eating disorders, and self-worth, I often find that body image is misunderstood as simply “how you feel about your body.” While that’s part of it, body image is actually a multi-dimensional experience shaped by history, culture, relationships, and nervous system regulation.
Let’s break it down.
What Is Body Image?
1. Perceptual Body Image: How You See Your Body
This component refers to the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of how you see your body’s shape, size, and appearance. You might weigh X pounds and see yourself as “too big,” or be objectively thin and still see “problem areas.”
In clients with trauma or disordered eating, this distortion is common. The brain’s perception is filtered through years of messages, not facts.
Therapy Tip: Mirror work and grounding exercises can help clients reconnect to the present-moment reality of their bodies.
2. Affective Body Image: How You Feel About Your Body
This is the emotional response you have to your body—pride, shame, disgust, neutrality, gratitude, etc. It’s often the most noticeable piece of body image, but also the most reactive.
It can shift day to day or moment to moment depending on mood, social comparison, trauma triggers, or even what jeans you’re wearing.
Therapy Tip: Building emotional vocabulary around body experience can help clients understand that a “bad body day” might actually be a “bad feelings day.”
3. Cognitive Body Image: What You Think About Your Body
This includes the internal dialogue and beliefs you have about your body. Thoughts like:
“I’ll be more lovable if I lose weight.”
“My worth depends on my appearance.”
“I shouldn’t take up space.”
Cognitive body image is shaped by families, culture, media, and lived experience. It's also deeply connected to systems of oppression (hello, anti-fat bias, the patriarchy, racism, and ableism).
Therapy Tip: Identifying core beliefs and practicing cognitive flexibility can help loosen these thought patterns.
4. Behavioral Body Image: What You Do Because of Your Body Image
This component shows up in:
Avoiding photos
Over-exercising
Dieting or bingeing
Wearing oversized clothes
Checking or hiding in mirrors
Our behaviors around body image tell us how safe or unsafe we feel being seen. These behaviors often have protective origins, especially for clients who’ve experienced trauma.
Therapy Tip: Behavioral experiments (like wearing a sleeveless top in a safe setting) can build body tolerance over time. Wear the damn shorts!
5. Historical + Cultural Body Image: The Messages That Shaped You
Finally, none of our body image struggles exist in a vacuum. From early childhood messages to systemic oppression, our body stories are shaped long before we start trying to “love ourselves.”
If you grew up in a household where weight was moralized, or lived in a body that was marginalized, your body image was never just about you.
Therapy Tip: Exploring body image through a sociocultural and trauma-informed lens allows for more compassion, less shame. It is also helpful to work through any weight-stigma or fatphobic beliefs.
So, What Is Healthy Body Image?
Healthy body image isn’t constant confidence. It’s not loving every inch of your body every day.
It’s being in relationship with your body—with curiosity, compassion, and context. It’s not objectifying yourself.. It’s being able to hear the unkind thoughts and choose not to obey them. It’s remembering your body isn’t a project. It’s a home. It’s not feeling great about your body but deciding to take care of it anyways. It’s body acceptance and body neutrality.
If you’re working on healing your relationship with your body, you’re not alone—and there’s nothing wrong with you for struggling. Your body image has a story. And it’s worth rewriting with care and compassion.
If you’re looking for a therapist to help you learn more about improving your relationship with your body, I offer therapy for eating disorders, trauma, and anxiety in Marietta, GA, Coconut Creek, FL and virtually across GA, FL and SC.