Tough Topics to Discuss

Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body Dysmorphic Disorder causes sufferers to be obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance and may afflict as much as two percent of the population, or nearly five million people. Many sufferers are able to function well in society, but remain secretly obsessed by their "hideous acne" or "horrible nose," sneaking constant peeks at a pocket mirror, or spending hours at a time redoing makeup.  Using stories and interviews to show the many different behaviors and symptoms of BDD, and a quick self-assessment questionnaire, Dr. Phillips guides readers through the basics of the disorder and through the many treatment options that work and don't work. 

Mom In the Mirror: body image, beauty and life after pregnancy

Mom in the Mirror provides insight, support, and the information necessary to help overcome damaging lifestyle habits and self-esteem struggles post-pregnancy. Readers will learn how to improve the way they eat, live, feel, and parent, thereby increasing their happiness, confidence, and self-esteem both as mothers and women

Fat Matters: From sociology to science

In a consumerist society obsessed with body image and thinness, obesity levels have reached an all-time high. This multi-faceted book written by a range of experts, explores the social, cultural, clinical and psychological factors that lie behind the 'Obesity Epidemic'. 

Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance

This is a collection of scholarly works on human physical appearance―how people’s outer physical characteristics and their inner perceptions and attitudes about their own appearance (body image) affect their lives. The encyclopedia’s 117 full-length chapters are composed and edited by the world’s experts from a range of disciplines―social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. 

The Cult of Thinness

This book examines the intense, day-to-day involvement that the pursuit of thinness demands by examining testimonies of young women concerning the practice of body rituals.  She looks at outside pressures and evaluates a range of therapies and personal and collective actions available to help women overcome their weight obsessions and eating problems.  

Fat Shame: stigma and the fat body in American culture

Locating the origins of the cultural denigration of fatness in the mid 19th century, the author argues that the stigma associated with a fat body preceded any health concerns about a large body size. This book draws on a wide array of sources, including political cartoons, popular literature, postcards, advertisements, and physician's manuals to explore the link between our historic denigration of fatness and our contemporary concern over obesity.  

Body Image : a handbook of science, practice, and prevention

Contributors review established and emerging theories and findings; probe questions of culture, gender, health, and disorder; and present evidence-based assessment, treatment, and prevention approaches for the full range of body image concerns.

Body Drama

• From fashion magazines to web sites, curious young women have access to tons of old wives' tales about and thousands of airbrushed and inaccurate images of the female body--misinformation and harmful portrayals that can lead to low self-esteem, self-destructive acts, or even disturbing plastic surgery procedures. Teaming up with a leading physician specializing in adolescent health issues, the author offers a down-to-earth, healing, and reassuring response to those damaging myths; giving girls insight into the issues they're often too ashamed to raise with a doctor or parent.

The Body Project: an intimate history of American girls

Presents historical evidence, based on research that includes the diaries of American girls written between the 1830s and 1990s, to show how the process of maturation has changed since the nineteenth century, making young women more anxious than ever before about their bodies and themselves.

The Adonis Complex: how to identify, treat and prevent body obsession in men and boys

From compulsive weightlifting to steroid use, from hair plugs to cosmetic surgery, growing numbers of men are taking the quest for perfect muscles, skin, and hair too far, crossing the line from normal interest to pathological obsession known as the Adonis Complex. This book offers hope and help for the men caught in the oppressive cycle of body obsession.

Looking Good: male body image in America

Projecting the right look has become more and more essential for men. who once dreaded being accused of vanity; today they are spending millions of dollars on fitness training, bodybuilding, hair replacement, and cosmetic surgery in the relentless pursuit of physical perfection. This book examines a confluence of social, economic, and cultural changes that have shaped the new cult of male body image in postwar America. 

Body Image, Eating Disorders and Obesity In Youth

The authors in this book demonstrate how body image and eating problems present and vary across ethnic groups and in boys and girls. It considers all three of these challenging areas together, and provides a range of information, from very early experience through treatment.

The Cosmetic Gaze: body modification and the construction of beauty

How the act of looking at our own and others' bodies is informed by the techniques, expectations, and strategies of body modification impacted by today's media influences.

Size Matters: how height affects the health, happiness and success of boys and the men they become

This book uncovers the causes and effects of societyʼs bias against shortness and reveals how short people can and do thrive in spite of this insidious bigotry.

he Drama Years : real girls talk about surviving middle school -- bullies, brands, body image, and more

The Drama Years is packed with the voices of tweens, who share their experiences, anecdotes, and advice on everything from stress to body image to getting along with parents. This is a survival guide written from the trenches, packed with real life examples and practical strategies, to help parents and daughters survive The Drama Years

The Broken Mirror

The author describes Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and describes severe cases, but also milder cases.  She has created a handbook for sufferers, their families, and their doctors.