If you’ve been popping around our site, or doing some research on your own, you may have seen the acronym HAES a few times. HAES stands for Health at Every Size.
While there is a significant history behind Health at Every Size spanning several decades by many activists and researchers, the bottom line is that HAES is ultimately about accepting that human bodies come in a range of sizes, shapes, and weights and that the size of your body does not indicate your health.
Sadly, diet culture has long been at work, tricking us into believing certain fictions about weight and health. There is A LOT of money (many billions of dollars) behind diet companies and “obesity” research. While that conversation is best served in another post, the HAES approach invites us to see the humanity in every body, regardless of weight.
After all, thin folks can eat endless amounts of foods we often call “bad” but people will assume they’re “healthy” simply based off nothing other than body size, even if on the inside they’re quite unwell.
A HAES therapist is someone who accepts that they cannot know what’s happening on the inside of someone simply by looking at them. They typically also push back against diet culture (intentional weight loss has a 95% failure rate and weight cycling is dangerous for our long-term health).
A HAES therapist will ask you about your goals, how you feel about your body, what your relationship with food is like, what your relationship is with movement, and support you exactly as you are without assuming they know your body better than you do.
While we take a fat liberation approach, HAES is a common phrase that helps people get connected around similar goals. Often people who are just starting to question a lifetime of dieting or who recently discovered body positivity begin exploring through a HAES lens.
Even if you don’t want to work on anything related to your body or to food, a HAES therapist won’t assert that your other struggles like anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues are because of your body size (which, sadly, is something many non-HAES therapists actually do).
If you’re looking for a therapist who won’t judge you based on your weight, a HAES therapist is often a great place to start.
Just remember, finding a great therapist is a lot like dating. Not all therapists are created equal, and it’s important to find one who really lives their values and whose approach and personality you feel safe enough with.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. If you’d like to learn more about anti-diet approaches, we highly recommend Christy Harrison’s book, “Anti-Diet” which you can find the full title of on our Resources page.
