Break the Binds of Weight Stigma - by Pegrum (Paperback)

About the Book

It's a common reaction to put things on hold because of how you feel about your body or weight. This guide encourages you to take a step back from harmful social attitudes towards weight, and use ACT to support your journey from shame to meaningful, positive action and compassionate self-understanding.

Book Synopsis

"I can't do that until I've lost a bit of weight". "I need to slim down first". "When I'm thinner I'll..."

What if you didn't feel held back by your body? This guide helps you to free yourself from harmful social attitudes about weight and to start living now.

Break the Binds of Weight Stigma draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a positive, action-based form of therapy that works by accepting your natural emotions and using your own personal values to build a path to the life you want to live. Stories, worksheets, reflection questions, and guided exercises show you how to embrace yourself and fight back against the social structures that tie value to size.

This is not a book about changing your body or losing weight. It's a guide to help you connect with the things that are important to you regardless of your weight. It's a step towards countering the harmful messages in society about our bodies. It's a movement. It's radical. It's freedom.

Review Quotes

If you've experienced weight stigma or self-criticism about body size, read this book! It will help you understand your history in new ways, feel less alone, be kinder toward yourself, and live the life you want, at any size.--Debbie Sorensen, PhD, Psychologist, co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast, and author of ACT for Burnout and ACT Daily Journal

The shame we feel about our bodies can be a challenging topic to explore, yet it's as if this warm and thoughtful book holds you by the hand, easing you through a journey of gentle self-discovery. In each activity, Dr. Pegrum nudges you a little closer to self-acceptance; building clarity and holding you by the hand along a pathway in what could feel like an impenetrable forest of shame and struggle. Read this book to navigate your way toward a kinder, more generous, and more compassionate relationship with your body and yourself.--Jennifer Kemp, Clinical Psychologist and author of The ACT Workbook for Perfectionism

If you are struggling with weight stigma and feel like you are trapped in forest of pain, self-judgment, and cultural bias, this book provides a roadmap to freedom.--Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D. Originator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

If you've struggled with negative thoughts and feelings about your body (who hasn't?), Break the Binds of Weight Stigma gives you a roadmap to help you move forward to a place of acceptance and peace. With beautiful metaphors, personal stories, and loads of practical tools and reflection inquiries, Break the Binds of Weight Stigma will give you a clear way of unravelling where your negative thoughts come from and guidance on how to work through them in order to strengthen compassion and acceptance. This will give you a clear path forward to truly change the way you feel about yourself.--Summer Innanen, Body Image Coach and host of podcast Eat The Rules

About the Author

Dr. Sarah Pegrum is a Clinical Psychologist and has been working in the field of body image, weight stigma and eating disorders for over 15 years. She is currently president of the Atlantic Canada Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, an ACT Peer Reviewed Trainer, and has presented at the 2021 and 2022 ACBS World Conference and the 2022 Australia & New Zealand ACBS conference. Dr Pegrum is also the founder of ACTing with Body Image, a new group for clinicians who use ACT with clients who have struggles with body image. She is passionate about creating change in relation to weight stigma and body image.