Reclaiming Body Trust - by Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevant (Paperback)

About the Book

Have you ever felt uncomfortable or not "at home" in your body? In this book, the founders of the Center for Body Trust, therapist Hilary Kinavey and dietitian Dana Sturtevant, invite readers to break free from the status quo and reject a culture that has taken advantage of and profited from trauma, stigmas, and disembodiment, and reclaim and embrace their bodies.

Book Synopsis

Now in paperback. A holistic and powerful framework for accepting and liberating our bodies, and ourselves.

"Essential reading for anyone who has struggled to feel at home in their body or to conform their body to external standards."
--Savala Nolan, author of Don't Let It Get You Down

Have you ever felt uncomfortable or not "at home" in your body? In this book, the founders of Body Trust, therapist Hilary Kinavey and dietitian Dana Sturtevant, invite readers to break free from the status quo and reject a culture that has taken advantage and profited from trauma, stigma, and disembodiment, and reclaim and embrace their bodies. Informed by the personal body stories of the hundreds of people they have worked with, Reclaiming Body Trust delineates an intersectional, social justice-orientated path to healing in three phases: The Rupture, The Reckoning, and The Reclamation. Throughout, readers will be anchored by the authors' revolutionary Body Trust framework to discover a pathway out of a rigid, mechanistic way of thinking about the body and into a more authentic, sustainable way to occupy and nurture our bodies.

Review Quotes

"Reclaiming Body Trust is a breath of fresh air, an inclusive, self-aware, comprehensive guide out of the endless cycle of shame and body blame. Whether you are new to liberatory work or deep into unraveling your relationship with bigotry and all varieties of body terrorism, this book will support you on your healing journey."
--DALIA KINSEY, RD, LD, author of Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation

"Hilary and Dana have written a deeply touching and relevant book that sheds light on the injustice created by a culture that demands body perfection. Offering hope to the reader, the authors have created a healing paradigm for retrieving the body trust they've so tragically lost and a path toward a lifetime of inner attunement."
--ELYSE RESCH, MS, RDN, CEDS-S, FAND, coauthor of Intuitive Eating

"In Reclaiming Body Trust, Kinavey and Sturtevant guide us through the raw, messy work of divesting from diet culture and from the stories we have been sold for too long about our bodies. They locate our personal body struggles in the broader context of diet culture, a system rooted in anti-fat bias, gender discrimination and white supremacy. And they help us write new stories, rooted in our bodies' wisdom and truth. I am so glad to have this pow­erful, important book on my shelf."
--VIRGINIA SOLE-SMITH, author of The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image, and Guilt in America

"With clarity, heart, and an expansive sense of humanity, Kinavey and Sturtevant provide revelatory tools for liberation. Interdisciplinary, multi-layered, and rooted in experience, Reclaiming Body Trust is essential reading for anyone who has struggled to feel at home in their body or to conform their body to external standards."
--SAVALA NOLAN, author of Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body

"Reclaiming Body Trust is a compassionate, inclusive book that provides vital vocabulary and a framework for those seeking to understand and heal their relationship with their body. Using real life narratives and their own extensive clinical experience, the authors have created a superb resource that will be life-changing for all who read it."
--Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED, founder and director of the Gaudiani Clinic and author of Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders

"Healing from the trauma of diet culture, body commodification, and internalized weight stigma requires a reclamation of our body as our home. We must take back that which has been stolen from us: the birthright to a body lived in with presence and delight. This beautiful book shows us how to remove the hooks that have kept us stuck and ashamed. Well done."
--Amy Pershing LMSW, ACSW, CCTP-II, coauthor of Binge Eating Disorder: The Journey to Recovery and Beyond

About the Author

Hilary Kinavey, M.S., LPC, has supported people who are healing from disordered eating, body shame, and the impact of weight bias and other traumas. She is a sought-after speaker on topics such as weight-inclusive approaches and the intersections of activism and the helping professions. She offers consultation and training for organizations and professional groups.

Dana Sturtevant, M.S., R.D., helps people divest from diet culture and move toward a more compassionate, embodied form of radical self-care. As a sought-after speaker and writer, Sturtevant is a champion for weight-inclusive models of care and offers supervision, training, and consultation for helping professionals and health care organizations.