Helping teens and adults navigate stress and uncertainty with more confidence | Training practitioners to join the mission
The Silent Identity Crisis behind Teen Body Changes
Today’s video is about body image in young people. A lot of my young adult clients used to be thinner as kids or tweens, then feel blindsided when their bodies change during adolescence or as they hit their twenties.
Teen bodies change for so many reasons.
Their metabolism naturally slows and changes over time, their body types change as they fill in, and their involvement in sports or fitness changes over time.
In addition, teens’ bodies are also affected by things like medication side effects, which increase weight gain or appetite, and the fact that food, nutrition, and eating can be such a complicated subject matter for people anyway, especially teens.
So it can be difficult, if not impossible, for a teen to try and have the body they want, especially during the chaos of youth.
Frankly my adult clients struggle with the same thing, and we ultimately realize that physical appearance isn’t linked to happiness. And yet plenty of people struggle with body image.
“…body image issues bring an opportunity for teens to realize that confidence and self-esteem don’t depend on physical features.”
I’m focusing on this topic today because teens often spend more time and energy consumed by body image issues compared to my adult clients, and teens tend to be less likely to get help for themselves.
And because body image issues bring an opportunity for a teen to realize that confidence and self-esteem doesn’t depend on physical features.
So when these issues come up in my client sessions, it gives me a chance to help young people understand how thought works rather than trying to look a certain way.
Here’s a common scenario: ‘Amber’ was super thin as a kid, she got a lot of praise and attention from both peers and adults about how adorable and pretty she was. As she got older and her body changed, she noticed that the attention and comments stopped. So it looks to her like her worth was based on her looks and she becomes fixated on what she hates about her looks. And it shakes her identity.
While many parents have to find their way through this same issue themselves, if you’re Amber’s parent, it can be excruciating to watch your daughter go through this.
If you’re like most parents, you’d go through any amount of pain yourself if it meant you could save your kid.
While we can’t actually spare our kids from pain and suffering in life, there are things we can do to help them find their own resilience and stability along the way.
That’s what today’s video is about.
erika bugbee
I’m a global coach who works with teens, individuals, couples, and practitioners that are open and motivated to change.
