Black Women, Body Image, & Eating Disorders

So often, the hidden assumption in assessment and treatment for poor body image is that clients’ negative views of their bodies are subjective and can shift with individual interventions. Yet oppression and race-based trauma informs the ways in which disordered eating and poor body image presents for Black women. Black women are confronted every day with the contradictory message that their bodies are both “too much” for Western society and also “not enough” for Western society.  In this session, we will explore how weight stigma and thin privilege are influenced by racism, specifically anti-Blackness, and learn how to better serve Black women in treatment settings where eating and body image are at the forefront.