The journey through eating disorders, BDD can be one of the toughest battles a teen will face. But with the guidance of parents, schools, and professional support like Body Image Coach’s 4-step approach, they don’t have to go through it alone. By acting as mentors on their Hero’s Journey, you empower them to move from struggle to strength, emerging with greater resilience and a sense of their inherent worth.
Every hero has a guide who walks with them. You are that guide for your teen, and together, you can help them find their way back to a life filled with health, happiness, and self-acceptance.
Parenting or teaching teenagers is no easy task, especially when they face serious challenges like eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or muscle dysmorphia. These battles can feel overwhelming for both the teen and those who care for them. However, like any hero on a transformative journey, your teenager has the potential to emerge stronger and more resilient with the right support. Using the 4-step approach with the non-profit Body Image Coach (https://www.bodyimagecoach.co.uk), parents and schools can help guide teenagers through these difficult times and encourage lasting recovery. Your child’s journey typically follows a structure that can be divided into three main phases:
1. Departure:
This is the stage where the teen starts experiencing body image struggles or disordered eating. It is the moment of awareness, where the teen realizes something feels wrong. While it’s often a painful time, this is the beginning of their quest for healing and self-acceptance.
2. Initiation (The Road of Trials):
During this phase, the teen faces obstacles like the physical, emotional, and mental toll of their condition. They will likely face setbacks, such as relapses or self-doubt, and will need guidance and encouragement to keep moving forward.
3. Return (The Mastery and Freedom to Live):
In this final stage, the teen emerges stronger, having battled and begun to overcome their disorder. Here, they gain the wisdom and tools to live a healthier and more fulfilling life, equipped with self-compassion and confidence.
As a parent or school supporting a teenager, you can take on the role of a mentor, guiding your child through their Hero’s Journey toward healing.
Body Image Coach 4-Step Approach to Empower the Hero Within.
Body image coach offers a 4-step approach, providing an early intervention to guide teens through recovery.
1. Awareness:
This step corresponds to the ‘departure stage’ of the Hero’s Journey. Awareness is the first and most crucial step in overcoming eating disorders or body dysmorphia. Teens may not always recognize that they are struggling or may deny the problem. It’s the responsibility of parents, schools, and caregivers to gently open the dialogue about their concerns.
Body Image Coach delivers an awareness video in animation, which looks at body image (lightly) as well as inner thoughts and how those thoughts around body image can create sadness. If you are a school or provider, please get in touch so that you can deliver as part of your PSHE. You can also access our toolkit for schools and providers.
2. Understanding:
Once awareness is in place, the second step is ‘understanding’ the issue and the patterns that reinforce it. This step is about helping teens explore the root causes of their eating disorder or body dysmorphia. Body Image Coach runs a 6 week online program that looks at the inner critique, power words, core beliefs and habits. Get in touch for further support.
This is the most challenging part of the journey, where the teen will face many trials. But with support, they can navigate these difficulties and begin building resilience.
3. Practice:
Along with the full 6-week program, children have access to peer support groups to go through homework and discuss healing. If further support is still needed, 1-1 coaching can be accessed.
4. Transformation and mastery:
After completion of their 6-week program, Learners can implement new ways and see big changes in their mental health and perception of ‘self’. If a learner is going through trauma, ptsd, cptsd they have the opportunity to attain further therapy with one of our therapists either before the program or after.
Healing doesn’t happen overnight, but with consistent effort and support, teens can start to see their worth beyond appearance, building new, healthier ways of living.
For further support visit: https://www.bodyimagecoach.co.uk
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