I saw the person underneath the behaviors that attempted to conform to expectations.

cause reactions—anger, withdrawal. Shame enters the scene when the assault, hurt, injury, or reactions are dismissed (“That wasn’t such a big deal, why are you so sensitive?”), denied (“You’re lying, making it up, that didn’t really happen”), or gaslighted (“Your reactions are because something is weird or pathologically wrong with you, not because

The women in this book were not successful or unsuccessful. They began a process of self-understanding, of dropping the shame that bound them to a self-abusing lens about their bodies. They began a process of learning to express their power, creativity, beauty, and intelligence with themselves, in relationships, and in the world. They became more e

stories and experiences of people who suffer under mainstream culture’s marginalization.

According to Jungian psychology, dreams tell us things we don’t know about ourselves.

My research has shown that resistance to dieting is a healthy response to the shaming that is baked into what drives people to try to lose weight.

The psyche dreams when we’re asleep, and the body dreams in the form of illnesses, physical symptoms, even body movements or body language when we’re awake.

Volunteers were offered my support and insight, as well as a chance to tell their story in a way that would be useful to others, in return for consenting to my recording the interviews and using what I had learned to educate others, including using the transcripts for future publication.

Body symptoms and nighttime dreams mirror each other.