Motivating Women with Disordered Eating Towards Empowerment and Change Using Narratives of Archetypal Metaphor

Deconstructing the Mirror's Refection: Narrative Therapy Groups for Women Dissatisfied With Their Body

“…The trend was sym-bolized by women who were taller, had narrower hips, and were leaner than the average woman (Byrd-Bredbenner & Murray, 2003). Since the 1970s, the slenderness trend has continued, with the idealized body size dropping farther and farther below the American clothing size 8 of the average woman (Padulo & Rees, 2006). In fact, in 1998, Wolszon found that 95% of women do not meet the unnatural idealized standards of physical attractiveness.…”

“…This may strike some participants as a very unusual concept because society persistently sends the message that we are our own problems. Thus, at first, some participants may be unable to name a problem or to think of the problem as something outside of themselves (Padulo & Rees, 2006). However, in a group setting, the ability to deconstruct a problem may occur more quickly than it would for an individual.…”

The agonistic metaphor in psychotherapy: Should clients battle their blues?

“…Feminist writers also have applied the metaphor to depict how patriarchal domination has influenced problems occurring disproportionately in women. As Padulo and Rees (2006) put it, “In the life of a woman with disordered eating there is a battle of opposites with the body as the killing field ” (p. 66, emphasis added).…”