Welcome to our opening blog entry! We hope to inspire you, our readers, on your journeys towards healthy eating, body acceptance, self esteem and overall emotional wellness. We're also excited to use these entries to increase awareness about eating disorders and related struggles, and be a tool on the road to recovery.
TO GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHO WE ARE . . . Westwind is a private counselling centre specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, body image, self esteem, anxiety, and depression. We offer Westwind Eating Disorder Recovery Centre, Online Treatment Programs, Counselling and Dietitian Services available both in person and online, and online e-courses (coming soon.) Treatment plans are individualized, and our counselors and dietitians work collaboratively with each client, so clients fully participate in deciding their recovery goals and the pace they want to tackle them. Our aim is help people gain control and a sense of empowerment, so they can have confidence maintaining healthy changes outside of treatment. One previous client recently said "For the first time in my life, I feel strength, confidence, and enormous pride in myself and my recovery." We know that pursuing recovery is a challenging thing to do! Recovery from an eating disorder is possible.
Our team at Westwind is passionate about promoting a message of self-acceptance and body-acceptance. Our culture values thinness and teaches us:
to worry about and be dissatisfied with our body shape and size
to view our bodies from the outside in, to objectify and judge ourselves harshly according to external standards
that there is one "ideal" body shape to have
that we should be capable of achieving it
that our value depends on it
Studies show that body dissatisfaction routinely leads to less healthy eating, and diminished overall health. When we're unable to meet the standards that are promoted as ideal, it can leave us with a negative body image, low self esteem, and restrictive eating habits that can contribute to developing an eating disorder. Healthy bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and we all deserve to love ourselves unconditionally.
"People always ask me, 'You have so much confidence. Where did that come from?' It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was beautiful girl. It doesn't have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see." -Gabourey Sidibe, Harper's Bazaar Jan. 2010.
Hope you'll enjoy our future posts promoting healthy eating, body acceptance, self esteem and overall emotional wellness!