Your Body Is Not the Problem: Reclaiming Body Positivity in Mental Health

By Dr. Shradha Billawa

In the therapy room, conversations about body image are more common than you might think—woven into stories of anxiety, self-worth, trauma, identity, and belonging. We live in a world that is relentlessly critical of bodies, especially those that don’t conform to narrow standards of beauty, gender, or ability. For many people, this constant scrutiny becomes internalised, quietly shaping the way they view themselves and move through the world.

Body image is not just about how someone looks in the mirror—it’s about how they feel in their skin, whether they feel safe being seen, and what messages they’ve received about their body since childhood. These messages often come from family, culture, media, healthcare systems, and social institutions. They are rarely neutral.

In my work as a psychologist, I often support people in untangling these messages. We explore where these beliefs came from, who benefits from them, and what it might feel like to relate to the body with kindness, rather than criticism. This doesn’t mean forcing a sense of positivity or pretending to love every part of yourself overnight. Sometimes the goal is simply neutrality, or appreciation for what the body has carried.

For clients with marginalised identities—queer, racialised, neurodivergent, disabled—the pressure to conform can be even more intense. Body-based shame can sit at the intersection of gender dysphoria, cultural expectations, fatphobia, or trauma. That’s why I take a compassionate, intersectional approach, creating space for clients to understand the deeper layers beneath body distress. Often, it’s not really about the body—it’s about control, safety, acceptance, or past hurt that’s been stored in the body over time. Body positivity, in its truest form, is not about perfection. It’s about dignity. It’s about recognising that every body—regardless of size, shape, age, ability, or appearance—deserves care, respect, and freedom.

Healing your relationship with your body is possible. And it starts, often gently, with learning to speak to yourself with the same compassion you would offer a loved one. You do not need to earn the right to feel at home in your own skin.

Your body is not the problem. It is part of your story—and it deserves to be held with tenderness.