Body Image therapists in Santa Maria, CA
Browse Body Image therapists in Santa Maria, California. Compare credentials, specialties and therapeutic approach. Contact a therapist to learn more.
Body Image
Susanna La
Psychologist, Ph.D.
As women, we are bombarded with messages from culture to media to significant people in our lives who make unnecessary comments about what we should look like or how much we should weigh. I come from a health at every size and self-acceptance approach to support a more compassionate and neutral stance towards your body image. Your body has done so much to support you up to this point and you deserve to accept yourself exactly as you are, while making mindful changes.
13 Years Experience
Online in Santa Maria, CA (Online Only)
Body Image
Alicia Stalker-Gallichio LMFT
Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT, SAP
Many individuals struggle with body image issues, which an effect self-esteem, relationships, and mental health, I provide a safe, supportive space to explore your feelings and beliefs about your body,
21 Years Experience
Online in Santa Maria, CA
Body Image
Josie Munroe, LMFT
Marriage and Family Therapist
Your soul's home. Your earth suit. Negative body image creates turmoil and pain that goes far beyond the mirror. But befriending your body again is truly possible, and in many ways, incredibly necessary.
16 Years Experience
Online in Santa Maria, CA (Online Only)
Body Image
Daniel Slavin
Marriage and Family Therapist
I help clients explore their relationship with their body, self-worth, and appearance with compassion and curiosity. Our work focuses on reducing shame, increasing self-acceptance, and building a healthier, more respectful relationship with oneself.
41 Years Experience
Online in Santa Maria, CA
Body Image
Mia Turner
Therapist, MA, RYT, ASDCS, LMFT, NPT-C, CMNCS, CMIP
Body image concerns rarely develop in isolation. They are often shaped by family messages, culture, trauma, racism, sexism, ableism, neurodivergence, chronic illness, disability, gender expectations, religious experiences, social media, and the countless ways we are taught which bodies are considered worthy, acceptable, attractive, productive, healthy, or "normal." For many people, body image is deeply connected to belonging, safety, identity, visibility, self-worth, and the ways our bodies have been perceived, treated, regulated, or judged throughout our lives.
This work is grounded in an understanding that our relationships with our bodies are shaped not only by personal experiences, but also by larger cultural, historical, and systemic forces. Exploration may include the impacts of racism, colonialism, anti-fat bias, ableism, sexism, cisheteronormativity, beauty standards, diet culture, healthism, medical trauma, and other systems that communicate which bodies are valued and which are marginalized. Particular attention is given to the ways intersecting identities such as race, culture, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, disability, chronic illness, spirituality, and socioeconomic experiences influence embodiment and body image.
My approach moves beyond surface-level body image concerns and into a deeper exploration of embodiment, nervous system experiences, identity, self-worth, intimacy, sexuality, sensory experiences, and belonging. Attention is given to the ways internalized messages, shame, comparison, perfectionism, masking, trauma, and cultural expectations may shape your relationship with your body. Exploration may also include the impacts of chronic illness, disability, neurodivergence, hormonal changes, body changes across the lifespan, and experiences of living in a body that may not align with societal expectations or dominant cultural norms.
My work is informed by Health at Every Size (HAES), body liberation, neurodiversity-affirming, disability-affirming, and liberation-oriented frameworks. Rather than focusing on weight, appearance, or changing your body to fit external standards, therapy supports developing a more compassionate, curious, and trusting relationship with yourself. Particular attention is given to reconnecting with bodily wisdom, interoception, sensory experiences, pleasure, rest, nourishment, movement, and the body's capacity to communicate needs, limits, emotions, and desires.
My intention is to support you in gently untangling inherited and internalized narratives while cultivating greater self-trust, self-compassion, embodied authenticity, safety, respect, choice, and freedom within your relationship with yourself and your body. Often, this work involves reclaiming embodiment on your own terms and creating space for your body to be experienced as a home rather than a problem to solve or vessel to abandon.
10 Years Experience
Online in Santa Maria, CA (Online Only)
Santa Maria is a Central Coast California city in Santa Barbara County with one of California's largest proportions of Latino residents and an economy anchored by agriculture, oil, and wine production—particularly in the nearby Santa Maria Valley wine region—and the mental health landscape reflects the specific challenges of a working-class agricultural community where many residents are farmworkers or their family members, facing occupational health risks, economic precarity, immigration stress, and limited access to services. Marian Regional Medical Center provides health services, and community health organizations serve the significant uninsured and underinsured farmworker population, though the gap between mental health need and available culturally competent Spanish-language care is persistent. Common therapy concerns include farmworker stress and occupational health, immigration trauma and undocumented status anxiety, family and intergenerational dynamics in a community navigating significant acculturation pressures, and access barriers in a city where the majority population is often underserved by formal mental health systems.
Body Image therapists in Santa Maria, CA Statistics
Body Image therapists in Santa Maria, CA average 14 years of experience and charge around $204 per session. 100% offer online sessions. The top treatment approaches are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (64%), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) (46%), and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) (46%).
Average years in practice
14 Years Experience
Average cost per session
$204
Accept insurance
38%
Offer sliding scale
55%
Gender ID
| 76% |
Female |
|
| 16% |
Male |
|
| 6% |
Non-Binary |
|
| 2% |
Gender Fluid |
|
Session Type
| 58% |
In Person and Online |
|
| 42% |
Online Only |
|
Top Treatment Approaches
| 64% | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) |
| 46% | Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) |
| 46% | Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) |
| 43% | Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian) |
| 42% | Psychodynamic Therapy |
| 38% | Behavioral Therapy |
| 38% | Somatic Therapy |
Ages Served
| 100% | Adult |
| 71% | Young Adult |
| 62% | Teen |
| 50% | Senior |
| 30% | Children |
Client Focus
| 67% | Women |
| 53% | LGBTQ+ |
| 45% | Men |
| 38% | Hispanic / Latino |
| 33% | Jewish |