Male Body Image Therapy

Many men don’t talk about body image struggles.

On the outside, everything may look fine — or even successful.

But internally there may be a constant preoccupation with appearance, size, strength, leanness or comparison with others.

This can show up as:

• Feeling “not big enough” or “not lean enough”

• Spending excessive time in the gym

• Obsessive tracking of diet, macros or training

• Avoiding situations where the body is visible (swimming, changing rooms, intimacy)

• Constant comparison with other men

• Feeling never satisfied, even when goals are achieved

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone — and it is something therapy can help with.

Male Body Image Is Often Overlooked

Body image difficulties in men are often misunderstood or minimised.

There is a cultural expectation that men should simply “get on with it” or that concerns about appearance are superficial.

In reality, these struggles are often deeply connected to:

• Self-worth

• Identity

• Control

• Anxiety

• Shame

• Pressure to perform or succeed

For some men, this can develop into what is sometimes described as muscle dysmorphia or “bigorexia”, where the body never feels good enough regardless of progress.

It’s Not Really About the Body

In my experience, male body image difficulties are rarely just about appearance.

The body often becomes the place where deeper emotional experiences are expressed.

For example:

• Anxiety may be managed through training and control

• Low self-worth may be managed through physique goals

• Emotional discomfort may be channelled into exercise or restriction

• Shame may be hidden behind discipline or perfectionism

Over time, this can create a cycle where the body becomes both the focus and the problem.

What Therapy Focuses On

Therapy is not about taking away exercise, goals or health-focused behaviour.

Instead, we explore what is driving the relationship with your body.

Together we may look at:

• Where self-critical beliefs developed

• The role of comparison and social media

• Pressure to achieve or perform

• Emotional regulation patterns

• Identity and masculinity

• Self-worth beyond appearance

The aim is to help you build a more flexible, sustainable and compassionate relationship with yourself.

My Approach

I am an MBACP Accredited Psychotherapist with over six years of clinical practice and more than twenty-five years of experience in physical health, exercise and wellbeing.

I work integratively, drawing from:

• Humanistic Psychotherapy

• CBT

• ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)

• Attachment Theory

• Transactional Analysis

• Psychoanalytic thinking

This allows us to work both with thoughts and behaviours, as well as the deeper emotional patterns underneath them.

A Practical, Grounded Approach

My style is honest, compassionate and collaborative.

I do not take a “one size fits all” approach.

Some clients want to reduce obsessive thinking around appearance.

Others want to step back from compulsive training or dieting patterns.

Others simply want to feel more at ease in their own body.

Therapy is shaped around what matters most to you.

Who This Is For

This may be helpful if you are:

• Struggling with body image or self-esteem

• Feeling controlled by fitness, diet or appearance goals

• Experiencing muscle dysmorphia or bigorexia

• Feeling anxious about how you look in social or intimate situations

• Never feeling “good enough” physically, no matter what you achieve

Sessions

• In-person therapy in Liphook, Hampshire

• Online psychotherapy across the UK

• £90 per 45-minute session

• Free 10–15 minute initial consultation

Taking the First Step

If you recognise yourself in what you’ve read, therapy can provide a space to understand these patterns without judgement and begin building a different relationship with your body and self-worth.

You can start with a free initial consultation to see whether working together feels right.