How would you answer that question? Would you be prepared to meet your child with love, wisdom, and comfort? Would you panic completely and spiral into all the ways you went wrong?
Do you notice
Concerning thoughts and behaviors around food
Do you feel lost when your middle schooler talks about their body? Do you think that diet and exercise advice won’t be helpful but are also unsure what to say that will be?
The truth is that much of the “helpful” advice we receive is rooted in diet culture, and diet culture will only lead to increased struggles with body image.
Imagine if you felt connected to your middle schooler and like you had a map about how to talk to them about their body image struggles. Instead of getting lost in a fight about changing eating habits or more time being active, you see your middle schooler feeling better about themself RIGHT NOW.
You will have tools to identify your body image beliefs and how they may impact your middle schooler. You will be able to spot the language of diet culture. You will be able to identify the root of your middle schooler’s body image struggles (not feeling good enough, perfectionism, etc) without perpetuating harmful diet culture rhetoric and behavior.
By day, I am a thriving trauma therapist. By night, I’m a diet culture warrior!! I spend a lot of time thinking about diet culture, and its impact, specifically on women, but more universally, on Western culture.
I’m also the mother of an 11-year-old boy who told me that he was “fat” for the first time this year and asked me if I thought he should go on a diet. I didn’t even know “diet” was a part of his vocabulary, let alone something he would consider for himself.
When I tell you that diet culture is my Roman Empire, you likely also guess that it is as personal as it is professional. I’ll be your guide through this process as we break down diet culture together and learn how to bring our kids through it in a way that helps them to be thriving individuals who know their worth and value independent of their bodies.
I developed Navigating Body Image to help other parents experiencing the same confusion I have. In this six-week program, you will receive live direction and support from me!
Session 1: We start with the end in mind. The best way to help your middle schooler is to understand how diet culture manifests and how it is already present. In this module,, we will spend time identifying your beliefs and how diet culture manifests in your family’s lives.
Session 2: This is where we break down diet culture so that you feel confident spotting it with your middle schooler. You will understand how it is perpetuated, its harms, and the sneaky ways that it is used to sell to your middle schooler.
Session 3: As the caregiver, your middle schoolers’ food beliefs will largely be shaped by how the family sees food and health. In this module, we will look more closely at your beliefs and the messages your middle schooler is receiving about their own body.
Session 4: In this module, we will look more specifically at the harms of diet culture on middle schoolers. We will break down specific ways they experience diet culture (like bullying and body dissatisfaction), as well as a more in-depth understanding of social media’s role in diet culture perpetuation.
Session 5: Once you better understand how to spot diet culture and understand the messages your middle schooler is likely being exposed to, you will be able to support them more competently. Here is where we will learn specific ways that you can help your middle schooler and engage in meaningful conversations that will feel supportive. You will have ideas of pointing your middle schooler toward enriching habits that create more joy in life.
Session 6: As we dismantle diet culture and help your middle schooler break free from it, this last session wraps it up and discusses how to integrate good health practices into your family life without perpetuating diet culture. You will feel more confident in guiding your middle schooler into a life focused on nurturing, not limited by diet culture beliefs.
I have dedicated hours and years to learning how diet culture sneaks up on children and adults alike. I’ve sifted through thousands of hours of training. Let me pull out the most effective tools so that you can get right to work helping your middle schoolers feel more confident in themselves.
While I would love to help everyone, it is crucial to know that this program is not for you IF
Not for parents of middle schoolers who are seeking more information about anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (these are severe conditions that require a much more in-depth intervention than what we will cover here.)
This is not for you if you believe your child is currently struggling with anorexia or bulimia. These are severe conditions that require much more intensive intervention.
Fill out the form below to get started & I will reach out with the next steps.