Recommended Reading for Body Image Difficulties
Books can be a useful form of self-help treatment, a way of helping family or friends understand what you are struggling with, or a helpful adjunct to therapy.
Below we have listed some books (written by professionals for the general public) which you might find helpful in your journey to overcoming body image issues. They primarily focus on the treatments recommended by the NICE guidelines for BDD.
We have also included some additional resources which might be helpful to you, including links to useful websites.
Overcoming Body Image Problems Including Body Dysmorphic Disorder - David Veale, Rob Willson and Alex Clarke
A step by step CBT self-help guide to understanding and treating BDD and body image issues, with exercises, worksheets, common examples, and techniques to learn.
Feeling good about the way you look: A program for overcoming body image problems - Sabine Wilhelm
This book focusses on self-assessment and understanding appearance concerns and understanding what maintains them. Basic CBT principles are described to help those who are already motivated to make changes.
The Broken Mirror: Understanding and Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Katharine Phillips
A comprehensive manual for patients and their physicians including information on the current understanding of BDD, screening questionnaires, and information regarding treatment options
Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide - Katharine Phillips
A concise and updated handbook for sufferers, their family and friends
The Body Image Workbook - Tom Cash
An eight step programme to help people change their relationship with their body including over 40 self help sheets and practical goals and summary sheets at the end of each step. This book is not specific to BDD but for body image problems in general.
Overcoming Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Cognitive Behavioral Approach to Reclaiming Your Life - Fugen Neziroglu
A practical guide to skills which can help individuals overcome BDD including mindfulness, acceptance, and exposure and response prevention strategies.
The BDD Workbook: Overcome Body Dysmorphic Disorder and End Body Image Obsessions - James Claiborn and Cherry Pedrick
Written both as a resource for clinicians and a book for those with BDD, this book emphasises the importance of balance in our perceptions and responses to body image. The second half of the book is a step by step guide on how to make changes, and also includes sections on motivation, self-esteem and social isolation.
Body Image Problems & Body Dysmorphic Disorder: The Definitive Treatment and Recovery Approach (Pulling the Trigger), Chloe Catchpole, Lauren Callaghan, and Annemarie O’Connor
Written by a sufferer and two leading clinical psychologists, this provides some simple yet highly effective self-help methods to help overcome body image concerns.
The Adonis Complex: How to Identify, Treat and Prevent Body Obsession in Men and Boys: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession - Harrison Pope, Katharine Phillips & Roberto Touchstone
A useful book focussing on male body image concerns, including ‘muscle dysmorphia’ (men concerned that they are not muscular enough), eating disorders (men concerned that they are not thin enough), and BDD. This book focusses on identifying body image issues in men and the factors underlying them - with only a brief overview of treatments. However, it shines a spotlight on an often hidden area of body image concerns.
Other useful resources
NICE Clinical Guidelines on BDD
The UK has produced best practice guidelines for treating OCD and BDD. They are free to download and easy to read. The NICE Clinical Guidelines for Obsessive Compulsive and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (2005) - www.nice.org.uk/cg031
The Centre for Clinical Interventions
A helpful Australian site, full of information sheets and self help programmes, including one on body dysmorphia.
BDD Foundation
The website of the BDD Foundation - a UK charity dedicated to reducing the impact of BDD through education, understanding, research and support.