Why go to a psychologist before losing weight? Why go to a psychologist before losing weight, or how can a psychologist be useful to those who are planning to lose weight? – this question is often asked to me by clients, friends and acquaintances. There may be various psychological reasons behind the desire to lose weight. Most often, dissatisfaction with one’s appearance, the body’s inconsistency with advertising standards, difficulties in finding beautiful clothes of the right size, and the need to improve one’s health. There is also an idea that along with a renewed figure will come a happier life, a partner will return, and the relationship between spouses will improve. A psychologist will help you understand what exactly underlies the desire to lose weight in a particular person, what is stopping him and how to change it, and will select methods of work that correspond to his specialization and level of training. After all, it may be that a person only fantasizes that he is overweight, but in reality he is simply dissatisfied with his image, as psychologists say “self-image”, then the formation of a positive attitude towards oneself, respect for one’s body and its needs, training self-care and self-support - this is the area of ​​work of a practicing psychologist. It happens that obesity is a consequence of family attitudes formed by many generations who grew up in difficult conditions of famine and war. The word “thin” in Russian is still used in the meaning of “bad, flawed” - remember the saying “a bad world is better than a good quarrel.” And on the contrary, there are a lot of proverbs in which the idea of ​​the benefits of food runs like a red thread: “you can’t spoil porridge with butter”, “a thin belly is deaf to learning”, “eat more - you will live longer”, “finish everything to the end, do not leave food on the plate”. The psychologist will help to pull out from the unconscious attitudes that were once very valuable for survival, but have now lost their relevance and have even become harmful, and together with the client, form new ones that correspond to modern realities. Sometimes overeating is a consequence of another hunger, emotional. And then food serves as a way to satisfy the need for intimacy, for example. You've probably encountered a similar situation: “Don't cry, baby, here's some candy for you,” adults calm a sobbing child. Sweets become an ersatz for close and warm relationships: “I’m sad and lonely, I’ll go buy myself a chocolate bar.” The psychologist will listen to the client and together with him will find effective ways to receive emotional support and express his feelings. And it also happens that fatness is necessary psychologically, because it creates a person a sense of security, a certain airbag, or embodies physically a metaphor of personal significance, when in the family or at work it is not possible to realize oneself, to be successful (we say “have weight”, meaning “ have authority"). In this case, the psychologist will create a safe space for finding adequate ways to overcome difficulties and realize desires, organize a positive experience of acceptance, and become a reliable ally. Each case has its own characteristics, each request is individual. Sometimes losing weight is just a way to avoid facing a real problem that really interferes with your life. Despite diets and physical activity, you can gain weight again and again precisely for psychological reasons, so it is useful to work with excess weight not only in the gym, but also in the office of a psychologist or psychotherapist. Valentina Konkina