Body Image Counseling in Chicago and Westmont

When Body Image Affects Daily Life

Have you started avoiding mirrors and declining social invitations? Are you finding something to wear that you actually feel good in is becoming an impossible task? You find yourself criticizing every tiny, perceived flaw. You want to feel better but you’re not sure where to start.

How you feel about your body is critically important to your mental health. Negative thoughts about body image can zap your energy, steal your confidence, and interfere with your ability to experience joy and connection. In turn, this can lead to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia. If you’re feeling negative emotions about your body, we can help.

These patterns are common in teens and adults across Chicago, Westmont, and Hinsdale, many of whom come to Elevate Counseling looking for clarity, relief, and support. Elevate Counseling offers therapy for eating disorders and body dissatisfaction that addresses both emotional and behavioral patterns tied to body image, helping you reclaim a healthier relationship with your body and mind.

Learn more about our therapy for anxiety and depression if you’re noticing overlaps with your mood or mental health.

Unpacking the Social and Cultural Roots of Body Image Struggles

Body image concerns don’t arise in a vacuum. From a young age, many of us absorb subtle messages from family, media, school, and social systems about what it means to have a “good” body. These beliefs often evolve into unconscious rules that shape how we see ourselves – and how we believe we’re seen by others. At Elevate Counseling, we help clients unpack these social and cultural influences so they can begin to form their own, more compassionate view of themselves.

This kind of exploration is particularly powerful in body image counseling, where clients come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Our approach draws on culturally inclusive therapy to help people examine how race, gender identity, religion, and lived personal experiences shape their body image. For many, healing includes challenging societal pressures and reframing old narratives around worth and appearance.

This process is not just about dismantling external messages – it’s also about building something new. With therapeutic support, clients often discover a renewed sense of self-esteem and confidence grounded in who they are, not how they look. We also integrate body dysmorphia support and therapy for eating disorders into this work when relevant, helping individuals move beyond perfectionism and toward peace.

Every person’s relationship with their body size and body shape is layered and unique. We’re here to hold space for those layers – without judgment – and to support lasting emotional change and body positivity.

How Counseling Supports Positive Body Image

With our body image counseling in Chicago and Westmont we’ll help you challenge the negative messages about body image that come from diet and fitness culture, social media, and peers – so you can learn to feel comfortable in your body and confident with how you look. Feeling good starts now.

Therapy often includes helping clients reframe critical inner dialogue, set boundaries around media consumption, and build body neutrality and self-acceptance over time. Our therapists also offer support for disordered eating and body dysmorphia and are trained in trauma-informed, inclusive approaches that honor individual identity and body experiences.

We’re proud to offer Hinsdale body image therapy, Westmont body image counseling, and services throughout Chicago.

We provide culturally inclusive therapy options and compassionate care to meet the needs of diverse individuals navigating body-based distress. Our services are available for therapy for teens and adults, whether you’re rebuilding self-esteem and confidence or seeking body dysmorphia support for the first time.

Tools for Ongoing Growth

Explore more insights from our therapists:

Here’s How to Stop All That Negative Self-Talk
How Body Neutrality Can Improve Your Self-Esteem
The Healthiest New Year’s Resolution? Give Up the Pursuit of Weight Loss
Five Tips for Battling the Body Image Blues
Using the Skill of Resilience to Boost Your Body Image and Confidence

This curated resource list includes tips and reflections written by Elevate Counseling’s expert clinicians. These tools are ideal if you’re already in therapy – or if you’re looking for new ways to learn more about body neutrality and self-talk as part of your healing process in the Chicago and West suburb area.

Start Body Image Counseling in Westmont or Chicago

If you’re in Chicago, Westmont, or Hinsdale and struggling with negative body image, our therapists are here to help you reconnect with your sense of worth. Whether you’re just starting your healing journey or continuing it, we welcome you here.

We understand how difficult it can be to reach out for support – especially when body image issues are tied to deeper feelings of shame, comparison, or self-criticism. At Elevate Counseling, we create a warm, accepting space for therapy for teens and adults who are ready to move beyond rigid expectations and find peace in their bodies.

You don’t have to navigate this alone. Take the next step and connect with a body image therapist today. Your healing is possible – and real support is available, whenever you’re ready to begin.

Everyone Has a Story. We Want to Understand Yours.