Overcoming Body Dysmorphia
Are you a person who finds that you spend a great deal of time focussed on a particular aspect of your appearance? Do you view a particular part of your body as seriously flawed in some way? Have you noticed that your efforts to improve or hide the area of concern from others is becoming time consuming and affecting your life in a negative way? Do you have trouble believing others when they tell you that you look fine?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be experiencing a problem called Body Dysmorphic Disorder and you may want to keep reading these “Building Body Acceptance” Modules.
This course is designed to provide you with some information about body dysmorphic disorder – how it develops, how it is maintained and how to address this problem. It is organised into modules that are designed to be worked through in sequence. We recommend that you complete one module before moving onto the next. Each module contains information, worksheets, and suggested exercises or activities.
Modules:
Module 1: Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder. This module provides some general information about body image and Body Dysmorphic Disorder, considers how this problem might develop, and discusses some of the negative consequences of the disorder.
Module 2: What keeps BDD going? This module considers how past experiences may be affecting you in the present, and explores how BDD may be maintained in the longer term.
Module 3: Reducing Appearance Preoccupation. This module explores ways you can start to decrease the amount of time spent focussed on your appearance, and thus start to break the vicious cycle of BDD
Module 4: Reducing Checking & Reassurance Seeking.This module explores the different ways people check and seek reassurance regarding their appearance, discusses the difference between helpful and unhelpful checking, and introduces strategies to reduce or eliminate these behaviours.
Module 5: Overcoming Negative Predictions, Avoidance & Safety Behaviours. This module introduces strategies to challenge and experiment with negative predictions, and to reduce the anxiety, avoidance and safety behaviours often associated with this type of thinking.
Module 6: Adjusting Appearance Assumptions. In this module we will focus on challenging the unhelpful rules and assumptions that can keep you caught in the vicious cycle of BDD.
Module 7: Self-Management Planning. This final module brings all the concepts of this information package together, presents a new model for you to operate by, and includes a self-management plan to help you to stay on track in the future.