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26: Trauma-Informed Approaches to Body Image Disturbance: History, Theory, and Current Conceptualizations

DOI:

10.1891/9780826147981.0026

Authors

  • Altabe, Madeline

Abstract

This chapter reviews the major theoretical traditions that contributed to our modern understanding of body image. These include in historical order: gestalt, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and feminist/sociocultural views. Each has described how body image can be damaged by experiences. Taken together, they encompass a full biopsychosocial formulation. However, the best test of a theory is how well it addresses emerging issues. Today we have ever-growing knowledge about neurobiology and dissociation. Moreover, we are challenged to better understand racial trauma in these times. Both these contemporary issues are examined in this review.