We are Aligned with Health At Every Size®
Your self-critical relationship with your body and confused relationship with food did not happen in a vacuum. The cultural context of weight bias and weight stigma has set the stage. If you have suffered from sizeism, weightism, healthism and/or ableism, we want you to know this is a safe space for you.
And in reality, all of us have been impacted by our culture’s obsession with thinness, youth, health, and ability and the resulting discrimination including weight stigma and anti-fat bias.
We see the impacts of this bias in our offices every day. From clients in larger bodies going to the doctor for something unrelated and the doctor focusing on weight loss to clients in more culturally idealized bodies that are engaging in harmful behaviors that end up being overlooked or even unintentionally praised when they see a doctor.
We are aligned with body liberation and the Health At Every Size® approach. An alternative to the weight-centered approach that is dominant in our current culture. The Health At Every Size® approach is founded on the belief that size diversity is natural in humans! Also focusing on weight loss has resulted in significant harm to people of all sizes. This approach consists of the following principles (source: The Association for Size Diversity and Health):
Weight Inclusivity
Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealizing or pathologizing of specific weights.
Health Enhancement
Support health policies that improve and equalize access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being. This includes attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and other needs.
Eating for Well-being
Promote flexible, individualized eating. Which is based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control.
Respectful Care
Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma. Furthermore, support environments that address these inequities.
Life-Enhancing Movement
Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree that they choose.
Shifting to Compassionate Care for All Bodies
We honor your questions and curiosities about this approach. We believe in body liberation and challenge the systems of oppression that privilege white, able-bodied, cisgender, thin, or fit bodies and view them as inherently more superior, worthy, or healthy than any other bodies.
All bodies are worthy and deserve respect and a safe place to heal.
Are You Ready to Challenge the Dominant Paradigm?
Join us at Reclaiming Beauty as we start a journey toward embracing our happiest selves. Our disordered eating therapists stand ready to support you in reclaiming your innate beauty and authenticity. Follow these few steps to get started:
Contact us so we can get to know you better.
Learn more about our approach!
Discover more about Health At Every Size®.
Other Services We Offer in Asheville, NC
Discover a holistic approach to well-being at Reclaiming Beauty. Our personalized embodiment coaching unlocks the wisdom within, fostering self-compassion and resilience. Or, explore the transformative benefits of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). This is a non-invasive auditory intervention that enhances social engagement and reduces stress. We also offer body-centered psychotherapy!
Resources for Further Exploration:
Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing and Liberation by Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant
The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand About Weight by Lindo Bacon and Lucy Aphramor
Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fatphobia by Sabrina Strings
Health at Every Size 101 - an extensive, excellent Health At Every Size® resource list from Lindley Ashline, author, photographer, fat activist
Center for Body Trust - offerings and resources on body trust & body liberation
Maintenance Phase - a podcast we love to listen to about wellness & weight loss debunked and decoded
Satisfaction Factor - a local Asheville podcast we LOVE
Feel free to contact us for Health At Every Size® aligned resources in Asheville, NC.
