Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment : Constructs, Protective Factors, and Interventions

Positive body image entails appreciating, loving, respecting, nurturing, protecting, and seeing beauty in the body regardless of its consistency with media appearance ideals. Embodiment reflects a connection between the mind and the body, which have a continual dialectical relationship with the world, and includes positive body connection, body agency and functionality, attuned self-care, positive experiences with body desires, and living in the body as a subjective rather than objectified site. This 37-chapter handbook reviews current knowledge on positive body image and embodiment, as well as future directions for work in these areas, which will be useful for mental health researchers, practitioners, advocates, and activists.

For five decades, negative body image has been a major focus of study due to its association with psychological and social morbidity, including eating disorders. However, more recently the body image construct has broadened to include positive ways of living in the body, enabling greater understanding of embodied well-being, as well as protective factors and interventions to guide the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment is the first comprehensive, research-based resource to address the breadth of innovative theoretical concepts and related practices concerning positive ways of living in the body, including positive body image and embodiment. Presenting 37 chapters by world-renowned experts in body image and eating behaviors, this state-of-the-art collection delineates constructs of positive body image and embodiment, as well as social environments (such as families, peers, schools, media, and the Internet) and therapeutic processes that can enhance them. Constructs examined include positive embodiment, body appreciation, body functionality, body image flexibility, broad conceptualization of beauty, intuitive eating, and attuned sexuality. Also discussed are protective factors, such as environments that promote body acceptance, personal safety, diversity, and activism, and a resistant stance towards objectification, media images, and restrictive feminine ideals. The handbook also explores how therapeutic interventions (including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Dissonance, and many more) and public health and policy initiatives can inform scholarly, clinical, and prevention-based work in the field of eating disorders.