My sincere apologies for the delay in posting!
I wanted to take the time to let you know about a wonderful prevention program with which some of you may already be familiar. It is called the Reflections Body Image Program and I recently had the privilege to receive training in this program so that I can implement it with students on my campus.
Right now the program is designed for college students; however, given the promising results thus far I would not be surprised if someone adapts the program to be used with younger individuals.
This particular program is based on the idea of "cognitive dissonance" and has shown tremendous results thus far!
I wrote previously about counteracting body image concerns with this thing called cognitive dissonance (please see my previous post). Cognitive dissonance is the idea that when you experience psychological/mental discomfort you may be experiencing "dissonance." When that happens we try to reduce the dissonance and bring ourselves back to a more comfortable state. Cognitive dissonance happens when you engage in behaviors that are effectively the opposite of a firmly held belief. For example if you are a female and believe that the "thin-ideal" (i.e., tall, narrow waist, large bust-line, etc.) is what you want for yourself, then you would experience dissonance if you were to try to convince someone else that the thin-ideal is NOT a good idea! In order to reduce the dissonance your thinking about the thin-ideal would change and move more in-line with the "healthy-ideal."
Although I believe I recommended something similar in my previous post, I would like to challenge you again to intentionally engage in some experiences that will cause you dissonance in terms of your beliefs about unhealthy body image and eating disordered behavior. One way to do that is to write a heart-felt letter to a "friend" who has the same beliefs you do - and convince them that their beliefs are not healthy! You can even get specific to your sport. Convince your "friend" that she does not have to look a certain way in order to perform at her best - but rather practice is a better predictor of improved performance. Practice will allow your friend to stay competitive in their sport longer whereas unhealthy eating habits and views about body image may damage their body and prevent them from being able to perform well.
Give it a try, let me know what you think, what it was like. Bring it to your counselor to talk about. Let me know if you have other ideas about how to shift your thinking!
