Doctors: We need You to Hear Us
Hello Doctors,
*First, let me tell you how much over the years I have appreciated many of you and your support, your advocacy and kindness. Not to mention good bedside manner and willingness to always hear me out.
Thanks for that, always. I imagine this time will be no different and look forward to discussing this with you in the future.
*So my concern is that weight loss recommendations for most, if not all conditions are not recommended, sustainable or safe for the following reasons - please see below:
Health at Every Size: Why we Do Not recommend weight loss
Weight Neutral Medicine Paradigm Shift
Rethinking Weight Stigma in Health Care
Health at Every Size Health Sheet for High Cholesterol
Do No Harm: Fatphobia and the Medical Industry
Also, your language matters. Do not blame me or my body for being fat with words you use that unitentionally cause harm. For example, as a fat and mutiply invisibly disabled woman I would appreciate not hearing pathologizing words especially by you at your office like obese (which means to eat oneself fat and is very stigmatizing and untrue) and overweight (based on the highly problematic BMI meant for population studies not individuals health) as they are wrapped up in medicalized fat phobia with origins in racism, sexism and colonialism. Eg. resource: Fearing the Black body:the racial origins of fatphobia
Also, as psychotherapist, fat advocate and someone who specializes in ED recovery and body image recovery, I could refer your staff to further training on this issue that leads to the marginalization and avoidance of doctors due to fat shaming for many fat bodied folks. Eg. Sookie Bardwell MA, OCT, Fat Advocate & article. Medicalized fat stigma also makes my job harder as a therapist for those recovering from ED especially for those that live in genetically fat bodies.
I hope you and your practice can use more weight neutral health care and language moving forward as Weight Stigma Hurts us All. I also hope that you can see this is an opportunity to bring your practice up to date on this paradigm shift to be inclusive of ALL marginalized bodies and do less harm.
Again, to my doctors, I appreciate all you have done for me and hope this lands well with you with openness and curiosity.
Kindly,
Kelly Alexander BA, B.Ed, OCT
Registered Psychotherapist Qualifying
*Further Resources
Health at Every Size
*First, let me tell you how much over the years I have appreciated many of you and your support, your advocacy and kindness. Not to mention good bedside manner and willingness to always hear me out.
Thanks for that, always. I imagine this time will be no different and look forward to discussing this with you in the future.
*So my concern is that weight loss recommendations for most, if not all conditions are not recommended, sustainable or safe for the following reasons - please see below:
Health at Every Size: Why we Do Not recommend weight loss
Weight Neutral Medicine Paradigm Shift
Rethinking Weight Stigma in Health Care
Health at Every Size Health Sheet for High Cholesterol
Do No Harm: Fatphobia and the Medical Industry
Also, your language matters. Do not blame me or my body for being fat with words you use that unitentionally cause harm. For example, as a fat and mutiply invisibly disabled woman I would appreciate not hearing pathologizing words especially by you at your office like obese (which means to eat oneself fat and is very stigmatizing and untrue) and overweight (based on the highly problematic BMI meant for population studies not individuals health) as they are wrapped up in medicalized fat phobia with origins in racism, sexism and colonialism. Eg. resource: Fearing the Black body:the racial origins of fatphobia
Also, as psychotherapist, fat advocate and someone who specializes in ED recovery and body image recovery, I could refer your staff to further training on this issue that leads to the marginalization and avoidance of doctors due to fat shaming for many fat bodied folks. Eg. Sookie Bardwell MA, OCT, Fat Advocate & article. Medicalized fat stigma also makes my job harder as a therapist for those recovering from ED especially for those that live in genetically fat bodies.
I hope you and your practice can use more weight neutral health care and language moving forward as Weight Stigma Hurts us All. I also hope that you can see this is an opportunity to bring your practice up to date on this paradigm shift to be inclusive of ALL marginalized bodies and do less harm.
Again, to my doctors, I appreciate all you have done for me and hope this lands well with you with openness and curiosity.
Kindly,
Kelly Alexander BA, B.Ed, OCT
Registered Psychotherapist Qualifying
*Further Resources
Health at Every Size
