I feel flooded with negative messages about my body by society, magazines, fashion, and social media. There is so much pressure to be thin and to look perfect. Where are the alternative messages?!
Have you heard the song Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara? The second verse of the lyrics describe a woman who is starving herself to look beautiful, which is one of the signature signs of the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa. The verse highlights myths often portrayed in the media: that beauty is painful to achieve, that beauty comes at the cost of your health, that beauty is skin-deep.
But importantly, the song quickly leads the listener to a positive, hopeful message: the lyrics encourage the woman to see her perfection, to choose her light over the darkness of disordered eating, and to know that she is beautiful just the way that she is.
She has dreams to be an envy, so she’s starving
You know, cover girls eat nothing
She says beauty is pain and there’s beauty in everything
What’s a little bit of hunger?
I could go a little while longer, she fades away
She don’t see her perfect, she don’t understand she’s worth it
Or that beauty goes deeper than the surface
Oh, oh
So to all the girls that’s hurting
Let me be your mirror, help you see a little bit clearer
The light that shines withinThere’s a hope that’s waiting for you in the dark
You should know you’re beautiful just the way you are
And you don’t have to change a thing, the world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful, we’re stars and we’re beautiful
This is what therapy for disordered eating has the power to do, too. Your individual therapist will help you see more clearly your worth, embrace your capacity for healing, and live by “the light that shines within.”
Nooshin Kiankhooy and Colleen McCarron have extensive experience helping individuals and their families recover from disordered eating. Both trained with the Renfrew Center in Bethesda, MD, a renowned local inpatient and outpatient eating disorder treatment center. Nooshin and Colleen provide psychotherapy as part of a treatment team that may include nutritionists, dietitians, and other clinical specialists. They will help you develop interpersonal and communication skills to improve relationships with family members, identify the psychological and social roots of your eating disorder, empower you to replace fear and anxiety with confidence and self-worth, and motivate you towards a lasting recovery.
Are you ready to recover from unhealthy eating or exercise behavior? If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, we hope that you call us today. Individual therapy for eating disorders can help!