Evolving Minds Counselling
and Psychology
Body Image and Body Dysmorphia Therapy in Sydney
and the Sutherland Shire.
The way you feel about your appearance can have a powerful effect on how you feel about yourself. You may find yourself comparing your body or appearance with others, feeling increasingly self-conscious, or becoming focused on something about your appearance that you wish you could change.
For some people, these thoughts come and go. For others, they become difficult to switch off and begin to affect confidence, relationships, social situations, work or study.
At Evolving Minds Counselling and Psychology, our psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide body image therapy and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) treatment for adolescents and adults across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire. Appointments are available in person at our Menai practice in Sydney’s south and via secure telehealth across Australia.
What is body dysmorphic disorder?
If you have BDD, worries about how you look can be difficult to switch off. You might become focused on something about your appearance that feels very noticeable to you, even when other people tell you they cannot see what you see. Reassurance may help for a moment, only for the doubt to return.
You might check mirrors over and over, compare yourself with other people, spend a long time trying to hide or change how you look, or avoid photographs and social situations because of how you feel about your appearance.
For parents, it can be upsetting to see your child becoming increasingly unhappy with how they look. They may ask repeatedly for reassurance, spend longer getting ready, avoid photographs, pull away from friends or stop wanting to go to school or social activities. It can be hard to know what to say when reassurance does not seem to help.
BDD can also occur alongside OCD, depression, social anxiety or eating difficulties.
Body image difficulties and BDD: what is the difference?
Body image difficulties can affect how you feel about your body or appearance and may lead to self-criticism, comparison or avoiding situations where you feel exposed or uncomfortable.
With BDD, the focus on appearance becomes much harder to shift. You may spend significant amounts of time thinking about perceived flaws, checking or avoiding mirrors, comparing yourself with others or seeking reassurance.
The distinction is not always easy to recognise, particularly when these patterns have been present for a long time. Understanding what is happening can help determine the type of support that may be most helpful.
Signs of body image difficulties and BDD
You may notice that thoughts about your appearance are taking up more of your time or beginning to change what you do. You might avoid certain clothes, mirrors, photographs or social situations, compare yourself with others repeatedly, or find yourself checking how you look throughout the day.
For some people, the worry centres on one particular aspect of their appearance. For others, it shifts between different features or becomes a more general feeling of never looking good enough.
You may also find yourself asking other people what they think, looking for reassurance online, or changing plans because you do not feel comfortable being seen. When these patterns become difficult to interrupt, appearance can begin to have more influence over your choices than you want it to.
How can treatment help with body image and BDD?
Therapy can help you understand why worries about your appearance have become so difficult to shift and what keeps them going. This may include working with checking, comparison, reassurance seeking or avoidance, as well as the thoughts and emotions connected to how you see yourself.
Over time, therapy can help reduce the amount of time and energy spent worrying about appearance, challenge patterns that keep the worry going, and help you feel more able to take part in relationships, social situations, work or study.
Our clinicians draw on evidence-based approaches to body image and BDD, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP). Depending on the individual, therapy may also draw on ACT, Schema Therapy or EMDR to address broader body image difficulties and the experiences that may be contributing to them.
This work sits within our broader eating disorder counselling, and where appearance concerns overlap with disordered eating we can support both together.
When to reach out
You may find yourself thinking about your appearance more than you want to. Checking, comparing or seeking reassurance might help for a moment, only for the worry to return and the cycle to start again.
For parents, it can be difficult to know how to help when your child is distressed about their appearance. Reassurance may not seem to help, and conversations about how they look can become difficult for both of you.
Therapy can help you or your child understand what is keeping these worries going and begin changing the patterns around them.
Body image and BDD treatment in Sydney and the Sutherland Shire
When worries about your appearance are affecting how you feel about yourself or stopping you from doing things you want to do, it can be difficult to know where to turn.
If you have been searching for body dysmorphia treatment or body image therapy near you, we provide body image and BDD therapy for adolescents and adults across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire.
We see clients from Menai, Sutherland, Miranda, Caringbah, Gymea, Kirrawee and Engadine, as well as the St George area, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and other areas of Sydney.
Appointments are available in person at our Menai practice or via secure telehealth across Australia.
If you’re unsure where to begin, our Client Care Team can assist. Call 02 8519 4197 or use the button below to request an appointment.