Body Image Inside Out

"Liberating and powerful, this is the best, most practical book about body image I have come across.” -Claire Dale, Author of the award-winning book Physical IntelligenceWhat if your negative body image isn't trying to torture you but is actually trying to talk to you? Embark on a transformative journey with Body Image Inside Out, where your body image isn't an enemy but a guide towards greater insight and inner alignment. Created by executive coach Whitney Otto and seasoned therapist Deb Schachter, this groundbreaking "inside out" approach invites you to explore - not ignore - your body image messages.Body Image Inside Out teaches you to become more skillful at listening, interpreting and responding to your body image thoughts, so that you can develop a more constructive and connected relationship with your body. Think of it like couples therapy for you and your body image. Weaving together Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness and Attachment Theory together, this process teaches you how to: Understand and shift your habitual body image thoughts and behaviors. Decode what you really want from that "fix my body" plan. Use your jealousy as a teacher rather than a tormenter. Identify which relationships trigger your negative body image and how to respond differently. Prepare for bad body image days so that when they show up, you can resource and connect rather than hate and ignore. Based on their popular BodySelf Workshop series and highlighting a diverse spectrum of client stories and bodies, each chapter features teaching, journaling prompts and innovative exercises to personalize your journey in finding a kinder, more collaborative relationship with your body image. Through playfulness and humor, Whitney and Deb expertly guide you to explore  a new approach to body image healing, offering everyone in every body the opportunity to translate their unique body image language.PRAISE FOR BODY IMAGE INSIDE OUT In 20 years of working with women, I've never met one who hasn't spent hours, months, years or decades grappling with and lamenting her body image. Of all the relationships a woman must navigate in a misogynist culture, it is the relationship to her body image that is perhaps the most complicated, confusing and confronting.Body Image Inside Out is a powerful and practical guide for flipping the paradigm of body-as-enemy to body as an intelligent ally and vessel of wisdom. A must read for every woman, every feminist and every body ― Megan Jo Wilson, Founder, Rockstar Camp for Women   How we see ourselves indeed changes everything and I am in awe of the depth and importance of the wisdom in this book. I have never before explored how my body image could become a living, daily prompt for me to more deeply understand myself and my story. I have never before considered my body image as a hero.Body Image Inside Out is full of powerful, clarifying and diverse stories that informed and inspired me to see how body image + curiosity + compassion + connection can be a formula for powerful healing and change...in both ourselves and the world. This book took my understanding of the profound intelligence that lives in our bodies to another level. I will return to these potent questions and exercises again and again and am already looking in the mirror and walking through the world differently because of what I learned. ― Cara Jones, Coach, Storyteller, “Untethered Voice” Podcast Host As an Olympic athlete, I grounded my identity in what my body could do. Now that I am retired from competition, I feel like I'm losing my identity. When I began reading Body Image Inside Out, tears started rolling down my face as I realized how those feelings of loss are connected to my changing body. This book helped me forge a new relationship with my body and, by extension, a new identity. ― Caryn Davies, 2X Olympic Champion, Founder, Podium Law Founder and 2023 Recipient of the Thomas Keller MedalBody Image Inside Out will help you dive deep into your body image story while acting as a compassionate guide toward decoding body peace. I wish I had this resource years ago. ― Leslie Schilling, Registered Dietitian and Author of Feed Yourself Schachter and Otto have provided us with a much-needed resource for helping heal body image distress. Using vivid real-world cases from their extensive clinical practice, plus practical exercises to individualize their points, they convincingly and compassionately show, while acknowledging broad inequities and stigmas, that body image challenges have much more to do with our relational, life, and emotional circumstances than they do with the actual body we find ourselves in. Readers will find this to be a deeply healing experience. I will be recommending this wonderful book to many of my patients! ― Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-C, FAED, Founder & Medical Director of the Gaudiani Clinic & Author of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders (Routledge) Deb and Whitney have written the body image book I've longed to hand to all of my clients. Through relatable vignettes and engaging exercises, they answer the illusive question, "What do I do with how badly I feel in and about my body?" Our bodies have never been the problem. And Body Image Inside Out shows readers that not only are our bodies not a problem to be solved but that turning towards our negative body image has the power to reveal what we most need to know about ourselves. If you have ever struggled with your body image, there's something in this book for you. ― Marci Evans, MS, RDN, LDN Food and Body Image Healers® I have been in the field of eating disorders for over four decades and can attest to the fact that dealing with body image is one of the most complex and complicated aspects of my work. Whitney and Deb provide readers with inspiration, education and exercises to heal body image wounds and have years of experience helping others turn their relationship with their bodies, as they put it, from "villain" to "hero." Both clinicians and clients can benefit from reading this book ― Carolyn Costin, MA, MEd, MFT, CEDS , FAED, The Carolyn Costin Institute and Author of The Eating Disorder Sourcebook, 8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder As an Olympic athlete I was rewarded for pushing my body past my physical and mental limits. I had to learn that my body is not just a vehicle for my goals. This insightful book offers a brand new and heart centered perspective on how to build friendship and connection with one's body, and how to tap into its wisdom. ― Iris Zimmermann, US Olympic Fencer, Executive Coach, Untrained Podcast Co-hostBody Image Inside Out is a valuable and much-needed resource to the eating disorder field. Whitney and Deb ingeniously integrate personal and professional experience while injecting just the right amount of humor to lighten the heavy topic of body image. I look forward to using the activities in the book with my clients. ― Amy Gardner, MS, RD, CEDS, RYT, Owner of Metrowest Nutrition and Therapy and author of iMove, Helping Your Clients Heal from Compulsive Exercise (2021) Drawing from their decades of experience with treating eating disorders, Deb Schachter and Whitney Otto illuminate the path to transforming your relationship with body shame, a notoriously challenging aspect of eating disorder recovery. Through a combination of thoughtful discussions, reflections, and exercises, Body Image Inside Out will help you shift from trying to push past your negative body image to regarding it as a meaningful source of information that will help you find the off-ramp from endless shame spirals. Clinicians will also appreciate this engaging, non-pathologizing workbook as a valuable resource that will facilitate their clients' healing. ― Jeanne Catanzaro, Ph.D., author of Unburdened Eating: Healing Your Relationship with Food and Your Body Using an Internal Family Systems Approach I wish I could jump in a sporty time machine and give this book to my teenage self. Grateful to be reading it now! Body Image Inside Out is powerful, deep, and practical. The topic of body image is complex and charged, and Whitney and Deb's belief that 'body image can be a safe landing zone for unprocessed emotions' offers such a helpful, refreshing perspective. There are potent exercises that help readers decode their own body image language and client stories that vividly illustrate the concepts. If you've had it with being an enemy (or frenemy) of your body, read this book now! ― Amanda Hennessey, Public Speaking Coach and Author of Your Guide to Public Speaking At last, an inspiring, provocative and effective guide for how to love and respect our bodies and ourselves. This superbly friendly, well-written book gives real muscle to the process of healing a loveless marriage with our bodies that many of us find ourselves in. The stories and exercises dance off the page with effortless ease, making real, tangible change feel not only possible but joyful, happening moment by moment as you read. Liberating and powerful, this is the best, most practical book about body image I have come across. ― Claire Dale, Founder/Director Physical Intelligence Institute, Author of the award-winning book Physical Intelligence