From Body Image to Emotional Bodily Experience in Eating Disorders

This paper is a critical analysis and overview of body image conceptualization and its scope and limits within the field of eating disorders (eds) up to the present day. In addition, a concept of emotional bodily experience is advanced in an attempt to shift towards a more comprehensive and multidim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of phenomenological psychology 2016, Vol.47 (1), p.17-40
Main Authors: Gaete, María Isabel, Fuchs, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Body image
Care and treatment
Eating disorders
Emotions
Health aspects
Social aspects
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Summary:This paper is a critical analysis and overview of body image conceptualization and its scope and limits within the field of eating disorders (eds) up to the present day. In addition, a concept of emotional bodily experience is advanced in an attempt to shift towards a more comprehensive and multidimensional perspective for the lived body of these patients. It mainly considers contributions from phenomenology, embodiment theories and a review of the empirical findings that shed light on the emotional bodily experience in eating disorders. It proposes an 'embodied defense' that leads patients to experiencing their own bodies as objects. This proposal highlights the need for new psychotherapeutic tools in the treatment of eds that take into account the bodily resonance of emotions and their use for improving adaptive responses to the environment: it calls for helping patients to recover the subjective experience of their bodies.
ISSN:0047-2662
1569-1624
0047-2662
DOI:10.1163/15691624-12341303