The Psychodynamics of Body Image
This seminar explores the complexities of psychology, culture, and embodiment, with a focus on body image and its manifestations in clinical practice. Through a psychodynamic lens, students will delve into the multifaceted nature of body image, examining its stability, instability, and the resulting psychological impacts. The course is structured around four key themes: (1) foundational psychodynamics of body image, (2) obesity and binge eating, (3) cultural influences, cosmetic surgery, and body modification, and (4) interpersonal dynamics of embodiment. Throughout the course, students will engage with in-depth theoretical readings and discussions of clinical vignettes, emphasizing critical thinking, clinical application, and ethical considerations. Through readings, discussions, and case studies, participants will develop a nuanced understanding of the psychodynamics of body image and its implications for clinical practice.
This course meets online every other Tuesday from September 9, 2025 - October 21, 2025. The dates are: September 9, September 23, October 7, and October 21, 2025
NCSPP is aware that historically psychoanalysis has either excluded or pathologized groups outside the dominant population in terms of age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, and size. As an organization, we are committed to bringing awareness to matters of anti-oppression, inequity, inequality, diversity, and inclusion as they pertain to our educational offerings, our theoretical orientation, our community, and the broader world we all inhabit.
Presenter's Response:
This course will reflect on internalized standards that we all carry in relation to our bodies. We will examine culturally mediated attitudes toward 'fatness' and will attempt to explore how these ideas may unconsciously shape our countertransferences in clinical work and the diagnostic categories that we employ. We will also consider attitudes toward body modification (e.g., tattoos, plastic surgery, etc.). Body-related practices and self-image vary significantly between cultures, and clinicians will learn to be sensitive to these cultural nuances around body image, beauty standards, and health ideals when applying clinical knowledge to particular patients. Understanding these cultural dimensions is essential for providing effective and respectful psychodynamic treatment across diverse populations.
At the end of this course participants will be able to:
-
Describe two psychodynamic patterns that constitute body image, including its stability and instability, and their impact on psychological functioning.
-
Differentiate between at least three aspects of the psychodynamics of binge eating and the experience of fatness, while critically examining societal attitudes towards weight and health.
-
Evaluate three psychodynamic and cultural factors influencing individuals' decisions to pursue cosmetic surgery and body modification.
-
Apply at least four psychodynamic principles in formulating ethical and culturally sensitive treatment approaches for individuals struggling with body image issues and eating disorders.
- Aron, L. (1998) The Clinical Body and The Reflexive Mind. In Relational Perspectives on the Body: The Analytic Press: Hillsdale NJ Pages 3-37
- Burka, J.B. (1996). The therapist’s body in reality and fantasy: A perspective from an overweight therapist. In Gerson, B. (Ed.). The Therapist as a Person: Life Crises, Life Choices, Life Experiences and their Effects on Treatment. The Analytic Press. (pp. 255 – 25).
- Da'Shaun, L. H. (2021). Pretty ugly: The politics of desire; Health and the Black Fat. Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-fatness as Anti-blackness. North Atlantic Books. (pp. 11-45)
- Dark, K. (2021). Language, Fat and Causation. In The Routledge International Handbook of Fat Studies (pp. 37-39). Routledge.
- Halsted, E. (2014). Stretched to the Limit: The Elastic Body Image in the Reflexive Mind, In Petrucelli, J. (Ed.) Body-States: Interpersonal and Relational Perspectives on the Treatment of Eating Disorders. Routledge: London (pp. 79- 91).
- Lax, R. (1980). The rotten core: A defect in the formation of the self during the rapprochement subphase. In R. Lax, S. Bach, & J.A. Burland, (Eds.), Rapprochement: The critical subphase of separation-individuation. J. Aronson.
- Lemma, A. (2010). Copies without originals: The psychodynamics of cosmetic surgery. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 79(1), 129 – 157.
- Manne, K. (2024) Unshrinking, Penguin Random House: NY
- Petrucelli, J. (2008). When a body meets a body: The impact of the therapist’s body on eating disordered patients. In Anderson, F. (Ed.). Bodies in Treatment: The Unspoken Dimension. New York: The Analytic Press. (pp. 237 – 254).
- Wooldridge, T. (2022) Binge Eating Disorder: The Subjugation of the “Hungry Self”. Psychoanalytic Psychology 39:287-294
Tom Wooldridge, PsyD, ABPP, FIPA, CEDS-C, is Chair in the Department of Psychology at Golden Gate University as well as a psychoanalyst and board-certified, licensed psychologist. His first book, Understanding Anorexia Nervosa in Males, was published in 2016 and has been praised as “groundbreaking” and a “milestone publication in our field.” His second book, Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders: When Words Fail and Bodies Speak, an edited volume in the Relational Perspectives Book Series, was published in 2018. His third book, Eating Disorders (New Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis), was released in 2022. His fourth book, co-edited with Burke, Michaels, and Muhr, is entitled Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. He has also written a novel about the process of psychotherapy, Ghosts of the Unremembered Past, additionally released as an audiobook with Audible. Dr. Wooldridge has been interviewed by numerous media publications, including Newsweek, Slate, and WebMD. He is a Personal and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute for Northern California and a Training Analyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. He is on the Scientific Advisory Council of the National Eating Disorders Association, Faculty at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP), the William Alanson White Institute’s Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions program, and the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, and has a private practice in Berkeley, CA.
This is an intermediate course for clinicians with moderate to extensive experience in clinical work with some background in principles of psychoanalytic approaches.
LCSW/MFTs: Course meets the requirements for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and/or LEPS, as required by the CA Board of Behavioral Sciences. NCSPP is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider Number 57020), to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCS, and/or LEPs. NCSPP maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
Psychologists: Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for these programs and their content.
Certificates of Attendance for CE credits will be sent to those participants who attend the entire workshop and return a completed course evaluation.
Enrollees who cancel at least SEVEN DAYS prior to the event date will receive a refund minus a $35 administrative charge. No refunds will be allowed after this time. Transfer of registrations are not allowed.
For program related questions, contact Mara Gerson, MA, at MaraGerson@gmail.com.
For questions related to enrollment, locations, CE credit, special needs, course availability, to obtain the grievance policy or report a grievance, or any other administrative issues contact Niki Clay by email or 415-496-9949.
Education Committee
The Education Committee is responsible for the development of a variety of courses and workshops given throughout the year in San Francisco and the East Bay.