Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Help!

So I’m a therapist. I want to build my practice working with men and women around the model of Health at Every Size. What I’m looking for is help from the types of people who would get excited about working with a therapist in this way.

You see, I spent part of my sick day yesterday looking at therapy websites, and, frankly, I started to zone out after the 2nd or 3rd. They all seem to say the same thing or are in language that a non-therapist might find off-putting.

So what would you want to see in a therapist’s website that was targeted to you? Go ahead and e-mail me or leave a comment. In particular, I’m wondering if there is language or images that would catch your eye, although suggestions on the content you would want to see in a fat positive therapist are also helpful.

Thanks, so much for your help, ahead of time.

5 comments:

Jezebel Blessing said...

Well the one thing I really liked about Jenny Craig was that they didn't teach me to diet all my life, they taught me about proper portion size and getting more exercise. When I didn't reach a goal my counselor didn't brow beat me about failing, we adjusted my goals to a more realistic level.

Take your mother's goal of losing 80 pounds. At her age and physical ability this isn't possible, but some weight loss would be benefitial so help her to adjust her goals to suit her ability.

What I would really like to see is pictorials and information about healthy beautiful people that do interesting things despite their body shape. Brow beating was never a good motivator for me, inspire me instead.

I loved Mode magazine, not only for the fashions that I could actually try and get great results, but also for the stories of men and women who were healthy, happy, and productive no matter what their weight. I also enjoy Cooking Light magazines because of their healthy and tasty recipes and smaller portions. These examples and inspirations that feel attainable change my mindset about what is possible for me instead of inducing the guilt and cycle of "failure" that diets and unrealistic beauty ideals tend to do for me.

Cody Bones said...

Spins, what is the type of client you are looking for. Is body type the first criteria, or is it general counseling/therapy? Is there an age group you want to target? What about gender? If you get a bit more specific, I'd love to put my marketing "skills" at your disposal. Off the top of my head, I would say the words "Free Beer" work wonders with me.

Alice said...

You know, just the words "Health at every size" have been really appealing to me lately.

If you are specifically targeting people who are "overweight," I know I would be really attracted to something that talked about managing cholesterol, energy levels, joint problems, and other health issues whose relationship with weight has been overblown, but not mention weight. And then ended with a statement about health at every size.

I would totally go to that place.

Alice said...

You know, just the words "Health at every size" have been really appealing to me lately. If you are specifically targeting people who are "overweight," I know I would be really attracted to something that talked about managing cholesterol, energy levels, joint problems, etc., and then ended with a statement about health at every size.

Alice said...

sorry for the double post!