The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 31 role in mitigating the harmful cycle before disordered thinking turns into disordered eating (Klassen, 2017). Counselors have the unique opportunity to support families in encouraging a healthy relationship with their bodies (Horton, 2023; Horton & Powers, 2024). In this study, I sought to explore the experiences of caregivers who integrate tenets of body neutrality. Body neutrality is a concept wherein individuals embody a neutral attitude toward the body that is realistic and flexible, appreciate and care for the function of the body, and acknowledge that self-worth is not defined by one’s outward appearance (Pellizzer & Wade, 2023). Examples of body neutrality can include not describing food as healthy or unhealthy, talking about what our bodies do for us rather than what they look like, and moving for enjoyment rather than to burn calories. Because the tripartite model emphasizes that parental influence, in addition to peer and media influence, is significant for children’s body image development, I explored existing research on parental influence on body image and selfesteem (Thompson et al., 1999). Parental Influence on Body Image and Self-Esteem Some family members negatively impact children’s and adolescents’ body image (Pursey et al., 2021). Neumark-Sztainer et al. (2010) found that over half of the adolescents in their study experienced weightbased and appearance-based teasing from family, and these experiences correlated to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and related mental health difficulties, such as depression. Parental influence on body image includes both direct (e.g., criticism about their child’s weight) and indirect (e.g., parents’ attitudes about their own bodies, food, and exercise) behaviors (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). Abraczinskas and colleagues (2012) conducted a study exploring parent direct influence, including weight- and eating-related comments, and modeling, including parental modeling of dieting and related behavior. In the study of over 360 participants, Abraczinskas and colleagues found that parental influence is a risk factor in the development of a drive for thinness, body shape dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomology. Moreover, Wymer and colleagues (2022) emphasized the importance of parent engagement in body image and self-esteem development. Often, families recognize the importance of discussing body image with their children but do not feel confident or competent in doing so (Siegel et al., 2021). The lack of confidence and competence leads to messages about health being conflated with messages about thinness (Siegel et al., 2021). In addition, researchers highlighted that although parental influence has a significant impact on body image and self-esteem, siblings, friends, and the media are also perceived to have influence over youth’s feelings about their bodies (Ricciardelli et al., 2000). The exiguous literature on parental influence on body image repeatedly emphasizes the negative impact of parents on body image yet seldom explores preventative and therapeutic ways of promoting healthy body image (Phares et al., 2004). Thus, I sought to explore how counselors might integrate body neutrality when supporting families and provide early intervention and prevention for adverse relationships with food, body, and movement. Body Neutrality Body neutrality is a concept wherein individuals accept their bodies as a vessel that carries them through life, and as such, do not attach positive or negative feelings to their physicality. For example, body neutrality can entail nurturing and respecting the body, being mindful of body talk, engaging in body gratitude and functionality appreciation, and recognizing self-worth that is not focused on
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