Affirmative therapy for all bodies

All of you is welcome here

Eating disorder treatment shouldn't be traumatizing

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  • Who We Are
  • What We Offer
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Lauren Canonico, LCSW
  • Asher M. Seruya, LCSW
  • Sophie Kuhn Bedaña, LMSW
  • Lee Warwick, LMSW
  • Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW
  • Who We Are
  • What We Offer
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Lauren Canonico, LCSW
  • Asher M. Seruya, LCSW
  • Sophie Kuhn Bedaña, LMSW
  • Lee Warwick, LMSW
  • Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW
Heated Rivalry and Sexual Intimacy

Heated Rivalry and Sexual Intimacy

by Lauren Canonico | Feb 11, 2026 | Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW, Thoughts & News from ATC

The new TV hit, Heated Rivalry, offers an intimate look into a budding sexual relationship between two male hockey players. Viewers of all genders and sexualities have swooned over the couple, lauding the focus on consent and emotional safety in sexual intimacy. Join...

Recent Posts

  • Heated Rivalry and Sexual Intimacy
  • Your Body Doesn’t Need Discipline—It Needs Protection
  • Eating Disorders and the Trans Experience
  • Dry January: Pros and Cons for the Curious
  • Avoiding Impulsive Shopping this Holiday Season

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    Affirmative Therapy Collective LCSW LLC

    Body, Sex, Trauma, Neurodivergent, and LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychotherapy

    Eating disorder and trauma treatment done differently

     

    80 University Pl, Suite 2G, New York, NY 10003

    info@affirmativetherapycollective.com

    (646) 504-1615

    Quick Links

    • Individual Psychotherapy
    • Couples, Relationship, & Family Therapy
    • Group Psychotherapy
    • Supervision & Consultation
    • In-Person Clinicians
    • Therapeutic Approaches

    Connect with us on Instagram

    affirmativetherapycollective

    🌈All of you is welcome here🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
    Body, Sex, Trauma, & LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy
    🛋️ NYC
    🖥️ NY, NJ, CO, CT, FL, MI, MN, PA, WI
    New clients ⤵️

    Every January, the world gets louder about fixing, Every January, the world gets louder about fixing, shrinking, optimizing, and controlling bodies—as if our worth resets with the calendar.

The phrase of “New year, new body” is common during this time. These kinds of New Year’s resolutions often present themselves as harmless self-improvement. But the truth? These resolutions are steeped in diet culture, healthism, and fatphobia. In other words, they’re anything but harmless.

This kind of messaging teach us that thinner, more disciplined, more productive bodies are better bodies; that control is a moral virtue.

Over time, this messaging injures our relationship with ourselves.

We learn to mistrust hunger, rest, softness, pleasure—anything that can’t be optimized or measured. Perfectionism slips in wearing a wellness costume, insisting that if we just try harder, plan better, buy the right products, we’ll finally feel okay in our skin.

And when that doesn’t work, the blame lands squarely on us—not the system that profits from our dissatisfaction.

This is where body image injury shows up: in the shame around taking up space, in the anxiety of being seen, in the relentless self-surveillance that replaces self-compassion.

Productivity culture backs this up, praising bodies only for what they can produce, endure, or overcome. Listening to your body becomes a problem if it interferes with goals.

So if this year you feel the urge to reject the “new body” narrative, fuck yea! That’s not resistance to growth—it is growth.

Your body doesn’t need fixing. It needs safety, respect, and maybe a little righteous anger on its behalf.

Looking to work with someone on body image injury in a space that creates safety for all kinds of bodies? Sophie has availability for individual clients!

Are you trans or gender non-conforming and interested in exploring the intersections of eating disorders within your trans identity? Sophie is currently enrolling the second co-hort of her group, COMING HOME TO YOU: Exploring Eating Disorder Recovery and Body Image Injury within the Trans Experience.
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🏷️ #BodyImageHealing #NewYearNewBody #dietculture #healthateverysize #fuckfatphobia
    We’re trauma therapists, so we know all too well t We’re trauma therapists, so we know all too well that you cannot separate the body, or the human inhabiting that body, from the world it is surrounded by. This moment is unjust, beyond challenging, and sadly all too familiar across history.

Show up how you can, including for yourself. We’re here with you.

Here’s a round up of posts we found helpful in thinking about how to get through this moment.

All sources tagged.

#fuckice #abolishice #nohumanisillegal
    Body Image and the Trans Experience 🏳️‍⚧️ We ofte Body Image and the Trans Experience 🏳️‍⚧️

We often discuss here the role that fapthobia and weight stigma play in eating disorders, body image distress, and chronic dieting. We mention it often because it is almost never absent from these experiences, and it is an aspect that is often not acknowledged by mainstream ED care.

All that being said, fatphobia is not the only reason we develop funky and fucked up relationships with food and our bodies. Sometimes, part of the reason we try to manipulate our bodies (which is almost always an aspect of EDs unless we’re talking about ARFID) is because by doing so, we think and/or feel that we will more closely align with our gender experience and, by extension, feel less distress around our gender presentation and/or less gender dysphoria more broadly.

One example: many folks who are interested in appearing more masculine decide to begin taking testosterone as a form of hormonal therapy. One common side effect of taking testosterone is weight gain, which for folks born with breasts can contribute to a larger breast presentation, which can in turn create gender dysphoria and distress. This can lead to individuals attempting to restrict to reduce the size of their bust in order to feel more in alignment with their gender, AKA engaging in disordered eating patterns.

It is crucial that eating disorder providers working with trans folks consider these intersectional aspects of trans experience to mitigate harm and truly offer gender affirming care that allows for different kinds of body image distress.

Interested in exploring your experience of gender and your relationship with food? Sophie is currently enrolling for a new cohort for her group, Coming Home to You! Head to the 🔗 in our bio or email us at info@affirmativetherapycollective.com 💌 to sign up or ask questions 🫂

.
.
.
🏷️ #queertherapist #bodyimagehealing #genderexpression #genderaffirmingcare #eatingdisordersupport
    Taking the opportunity to reflect on your relation Taking the opportunity to reflect on your relationship with alcohol in the New Year? You’re not alone! Dry January is a growing trend. But is it right for you? Join Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW in exploring the pros and cons of experimenting with Dry January.

If you’re wondering what it would be like not to drink, give it a try and see what it’s like. Maybe it’s not a new you, just a new experience!

Here’s to a year of honoring yourself, listening to your body, and feeling confident in your choices.

Happy New Year!

Interested in exploring your relationship with alcohol, January or not? Sophie is taking new clients! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
.
.
.
🏷️ #dryjanuary #sobercuriousmovement #substanceusedisorder #sobercommunity #therapyforall
    Follow on Instagram

    Health At Every Size® and HAES® are registered trademarks of the Association for Size Diversity and Health and used with permission

    • Follow
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    • Follow
    Manhattan Alternative logo
    Poly Friendly Professionals listing logo image - white text on a dark background with overlapping purple circles on the left side.
    Covid Conscious Therapist Directory link
    Poly Friendly Professionals listing logo image - white text on a dark background with overlapping purple circles on the left side.

    Ready to start the process of matching you with one of our therapists?

    Fill out the screening

    For all other inquiries, please use the contact form below

    9 + 8 =

    Affirmative Therapy Collective LCSW LLC

    Body, Sex, Trauma, Neurodivergent, and LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychotherapy

    Eating disorder and trauma treatment done differently

     

    80 University Pl, Suite 2G, New York, NY 10003

    info@affirmativetherapycollective.com

    (646) 504-1615

    Quick Links

    • Individual Psychotherapy
    • Couples, Relationship, & Family Therapy
    • Group Psychotherapy
    • Supervision & Consultation
    • In-Person Clinicians
    • Therapeutic Approaches

    Connect with us on Instagram

    affirmativetherapycollective

    🌈All of you is welcome here🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
    Body, Sex, Trauma, & LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Therapy
    🛋️ NYC
    🖥️ NY, NJ, CO, CT, FL, MI, MN, PA, WI
    New clients ⤵️

    Every January, the world gets louder about fixing, Every January, the world gets louder about fixing, shrinking, optimizing, and controlling bodies—as if our worth resets with the calendar.

The phrase of “New year, new body” is common during this time. These kinds of New Year’s resolutions often present themselves as harmless self-improvement. But the truth? These resolutions are steeped in diet culture, healthism, and fatphobia. In other words, they’re anything but harmless.

This kind of messaging teach us that thinner, more disciplined, more productive bodies are better bodies; that control is a moral virtue.

Over time, this messaging injures our relationship with ourselves.

We learn to mistrust hunger, rest, softness, pleasure—anything that can’t be optimized or measured. Perfectionism slips in wearing a wellness costume, insisting that if we just try harder, plan better, buy the right products, we’ll finally feel okay in our skin.

And when that doesn’t work, the blame lands squarely on us—not the system that profits from our dissatisfaction.

This is where body image injury shows up: in the shame around taking up space, in the anxiety of being seen, in the relentless self-surveillance that replaces self-compassion.

Productivity culture backs this up, praising bodies only for what they can produce, endure, or overcome. Listening to your body becomes a problem if it interferes with goals.

So if this year you feel the urge to reject the “new body” narrative, fuck yea! That’s not resistance to growth—it is growth.

Your body doesn’t need fixing. It needs safety, respect, and maybe a little righteous anger on its behalf.

Looking to work with someone on body image injury in a space that creates safety for all kinds of bodies? Sophie has availability for individual clients!

Are you trans or gender non-conforming and interested in exploring the intersections of eating disorders within your trans identity? Sophie is currently enrolling the second co-hort of her group, COMING HOME TO YOU: Exploring Eating Disorder Recovery and Body Image Injury within the Trans Experience.
.
.
.
🏷️ #BodyImageHealing #NewYearNewBody #dietculture #healthateverysize #fuckfatphobia
    We’re trauma therapists, so we know all too well t We’re trauma therapists, so we know all too well that you cannot separate the body, or the human inhabiting that body, from the world it is surrounded by. This moment is unjust, beyond challenging, and sadly all too familiar across history.

Show up how you can, including for yourself. We’re here with you.

Here’s a round up of posts we found helpful in thinking about how to get through this moment.

All sources tagged.

#fuckice #abolishice #nohumanisillegal
    Body Image and the Trans Experience 🏳️‍⚧️ We ofte Body Image and the Trans Experience 🏳️‍⚧️

We often discuss here the role that fapthobia and weight stigma play in eating disorders, body image distress, and chronic dieting. We mention it often because it is almost never absent from these experiences, and it is an aspect that is often not acknowledged by mainstream ED care.

All that being said, fatphobia is not the only reason we develop funky and fucked up relationships with food and our bodies. Sometimes, part of the reason we try to manipulate our bodies (which is almost always an aspect of EDs unless we’re talking about ARFID) is because by doing so, we think and/or feel that we will more closely align with our gender experience and, by extension, feel less distress around our gender presentation and/or less gender dysphoria more broadly.

One example: many folks who are interested in appearing more masculine decide to begin taking testosterone as a form of hormonal therapy. One common side effect of taking testosterone is weight gain, which for folks born with breasts can contribute to a larger breast presentation, which can in turn create gender dysphoria and distress. This can lead to individuals attempting to restrict to reduce the size of their bust in order to feel more in alignment with their gender, AKA engaging in disordered eating patterns.

It is crucial that eating disorder providers working with trans folks consider these intersectional aspects of trans experience to mitigate harm and truly offer gender affirming care that allows for different kinds of body image distress.

Interested in exploring your experience of gender and your relationship with food? Sophie is currently enrolling for a new cohort for her group, Coming Home to You! Head to the 🔗 in our bio or email us at info@affirmativetherapycollective.com 💌 to sign up or ask questions 🫂

.
.
.
🏷️ #queertherapist #bodyimagehealing #genderexpression #genderaffirmingcare #eatingdisordersupport
    Taking the opportunity to reflect on your relation Taking the opportunity to reflect on your relationship with alcohol in the New Year? You’re not alone! Dry January is a growing trend. But is it right for you? Join Sophie Talmadge Silleck, LMSW in exploring the pros and cons of experimenting with Dry January.

If you’re wondering what it would be like not to drink, give it a try and see what it’s like. Maybe it’s not a new you, just a new experience!

Here’s to a year of honoring yourself, listening to your body, and feeling confident in your choices.

Happy New Year!

Interested in exploring your relationship with alcohol, January or not? Sophie is taking new clients! Find out more about how to work with her at the 🔗 in our bio 💌
.
.
.
🏷️ #dryjanuary #sobercuriousmovement #substanceusedisorder #sobercommunity #therapyforall
    Follow on Instagram

    Health At Every Size® and HAES® are registered trademarks of the Association for Size Diversity and Health and used with permission

    • Follow
    • Follow
    • Follow