THE DECONSTRUCTED MEAL: INTERSECTIONALITY OF BODY IMAGE AND SEX POSITIVITY WITH CLIENTS WITH EATING DISORDERS AND SEXUAL TRAUMA

This paper explores the intersectionality of positive, body image, and sex-positive through a depth psychology lens and provides examples of innovative interventions that are art-based, imagistic, and symbolic and are grounded in embodied and relational approaches for individuals with eating disorders who have experienced sexual trauma. While the relationship between sexual trauma and eating disorders is not causation, there is evidence to show there is a correlation (Madowitz, Matheson, & Liang, 2015). Sexual trauma often precedes eating disorders (Pike et al., 2008) and, thus, can be a precursor to an eating disorder (Telléus, Lauritsen, & Rodrigo-Domingo, 2021). In no other mental health disorder listed in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-V (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) has a higher mortality rate than those with eating disorders, including those who commit suicide from depression and it is estimated that 80 percent of people with eating disorders will recover while the remaining 20 percent will remain chronic or die (Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders, 2015; Smink, van Hoeken, & Hoek, 2012). Eating disorders are disturbances of relationships: Relationships to others and the environment, to oneself, to one’s emotions, and to one’s needs, desires, and imagination (Dean, 2019), which often require a disconnection from the body. Understanding the contributing factors to eating disorders, including sexual trauma and relationship issues, through a symbolic and expressive means is imperative in promoting body acceptance and a sex positive life.