Mind the Body Podcast

Body Image in Survival Mode - The Impact of Insecure Attachment on How You See Your Body : Episode 16

🎧 Episode 16: Body Image in Survival Mode - The Impact of Insecure Attachment on How You See Your Body Why can a difficult moment in a relationship suddenly leave you feeling intensely critical of your body? In this episode of Mind the Body, I explore how insecure attachment can place body image into survival mode. When relationships feel uncertain through withdrawal, criticism, distance, or emotional disconnection, the nervous system can respond as though connection itself is under threat. For some, that distress gets expressed through the body: self-criticism intensifies, the urge to control appearance grows, or the desire to disappear takes over. I explore how these protective patterns develop, why the body often becomes the place where relational anxiety is carried, and what healing looks like through building inner safety and safe connection. In This Episode: * How insecure attachment impacts body image * The six survival patterns that can shape body image distress * Why the body carries relational memory * How perfectionism, control, and withdrawal function as protection * The 3-R healing framework: Recognise, Reflect, Rewire * Why healing happens through building safety in relationship A Question to Sit With: What relational fear might be underneath your body image distress? References: Fonagy, P. & Target, M. (2002). Early intervention and the development of self-regulation. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 22(3), 307-335. Marriott, S. & Kelley, T. (2024). Secure Relating: Holding Your Own in an Insecure World. Harper Collins Publishers. Parnell, L. (2013). Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma. W.W. Norton & Company. Schnackenberg, N. (2020). Body image issues 1/5: Early attachment. PESI UK. Retrieved from https://www.pesi.co.uk/blogs/body-image-issues-1-5-early-attachment/ [https://www.pesi.co.uk/blogs/body-image-issues-1-5-early-attachment/] Siegel, D. (2015). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. Take a breath, stay curious, and explore what it truly means to Mind The Body. Join the Community * Subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend who’s exploring body image healing, the mind–body connection, emotional healing, and the patterns that shape how we see ourselves. * Connect or learn more: www.yvettevuaran.com [http://www.yvettevuaran.com/]  * Sign up for my Mind The Body Newsletter [https://www.yvettevuaran.com/signup-52d63cef-7882-4aaa-8e09-aae41281f6e0] * Follow @mindthebodypodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mindthebodypodcast/] @yvettevuaran [https://www.instagram.com/yvettevuaran/]

The Body at the Edge of Love - Body Image Disturbance in the Space Between Us : Episode 15

🎧 Episode 15: The Body at the Edge of Love – Body Image Disturbance in the Space Between Us Why does body image disturbance often get louder just as closeness becomes possible? In this episode of Mind the Body, I explore the relationship between body image disturbance, attachment, shame, and emotional intimacy. When someone begins to matter to us - whether in romance, friendship, or vulnerability - the body can suddenly feel more exposed. Self-criticism may intensify, old insecurities can reappear, and the urge to hide can become surprisingly strong. Drawing on attachment theory, psychoanalytic thinking, and contemporary work on shame, I explore why these experiences can emerge so powerfully in moments of closeness. We look at how early relational experiences shape the way we experience being seen, why the body often becomes the place where relational fears are expressed, and how body image disturbance may function as a protective response at the edge of connection. In This Episode * Why body image disturbance often intensifies in moments of closeness * How attachment patterns shape our experience of being seen * Why the body carries relational memory * The connection between shame, vulnerability, and body image disturbance * How self-criticism can function as protection * Why healing often happens through safe relationships A Question to Sit With: What might your body be trying to protect you from when closeness begins to feel possible? References: Bowlby, J. (1989). The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds. Routledge. Brown, B. (2013). Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Penguin. DeYoung, P. (2015). Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame: A Relational/Neurobiological Approach. Routledge. Granieri, A., & Schimmenti, A. (2014). Mind–body splitting and eating disorders: A psychoanalytic perspective. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 28(1), 52–70. Lemma, A. (2009). Being seen or being watched? A psychoanalytic perspective on body dysmorphia. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 90(4), 753–771. Orbach, S. (2009). Bodies. Profile Books. Steele, M., Steele, H., & Beebe, B. (2017). Applying an attachment and microanalytic lens to “embodied mentalization”: Commentary on “Mentalizing homeostasis: The social origins of interoceptive inference” by Fotopoulou and Tsakiris. Neuropsychoanalysis, 19(1), 59–66. Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and Reality. Routledge. Take a breath, stay curious, and explore what it truly means to Mind The Body. Join the Community * Subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend who’s exploring body image healing, the mind–body connection, emotional healing, and the patterns that shape how we see ourselves. * Connect or learn more: www.yvettevuaran.com [http://www.yvettevuaran.com/]  * Sign up for my Mind The Body Newsletter [https://www.yvettevuaran.com/signup-52d63cef-7882-4aaa-8e09-aae41281f6e0] * Follow @mindthebodypodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mindthebodypodcast/] @yvettevuaran [https://www.instagram.com/yvettevuaran/]

Coming Home to Your Body - Healing After Complex Trauma : Episode 14

🎧 Episode 14: Coming Home to Your Body – Healing After Complex Trauma What happens when the body no longer feels like home? In this episode of Mind The Body, I explore how complex trauma shapes the nervous system, disconnects us from the body, and affects the way we experience ourselves, relationships, and the world around us. Drawing on the work of Judith Herman, Caroline Garland, Ruth Lanius and colleagues, and Gabor Maté, I discuss why disconnection from the body develops as a survival response, how trauma is stored in the body, and why healing needs to happen at the sensory and nervous system level. In This Episode * How complex trauma affects the body and nervous system * Why disconnection from the body develops as a survival response * The relationship between trauma, body image, and relationships * How EMDR and somatic approaches support healing A Question to Sit With Where in your life might your body be trying to come home? References: * Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. Basic Books. * Garland, C. (Ed.). (2002). Understanding Trauma: A Psychoanalytic Approach. Karnac Books. * Lanius, R. A., Harricharan, S., Kearney, B. E., & Pandev-Girard, B. (2025). Sensory Pathways to Healing from Trauma: Harnessing the Brain’s Capacity for Change. The Guilford Press * Haverly, C., & Young, E. (2026). Trauma-Informed Bodywork. North Atlantic Books Content Note This episode discusses complex trauma and childhood relational trauma. Please listen with care. Take a breath, stay curious, and explore what it truly means to Mind The Body. Join the Community * Subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend who’s exploring body image healing, the mind–body connection, emotional healing, and the patterns that shape how we see ourselves. * Connect or learn more: www.yvettevuaran.com [http://www.yvettevuaran.com/]  * Sign up for my Mind The Body Newsletter [https://www.yvettevuaran.com/signup-52d63cef-7882-4aaa-8e09-aae41281f6e0] * Follow @mindthebodypodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mindthebodypodcast/] @yvettevuaran [https://www.instagram.com/yvettevuaran/]

The Constructed Self, The Disconnected Self - On feeling lost, hidden, and finding your way back : Episode 13

🎧 Episode 13: The Constructed Self, The Disconnected Self - On feeling lost, hidden, and finding your way back Something feels off, but it’s hard to name. In this episode of Mind the Body, I explore two experiences I hear often: “I don’t know who I am anymore” and “I just feel lost.” While they sound similar, they speak to different kinds of disconnection - one psychological, one deeply embodied. Here, I look at how the self we present to the world can slowly take over, until it’s the only place we know how to live from. Drawing on psychoanalytic thinking, clinical experience, and the impact of social media, I explore how the gap between who we are and who we show can quietly widen over time. We also move into what happens when parts of the self go into hiding, how early relationships and shame shape what feels safe to express, and how the body holds what cannot be spoken. And finally, what it means to find your way back, through real connection. In This Episode: * The difference between feeling lost and losing contact with who you are, and how these experiences take shape over time * How the “constructed self” develops, and why it can begin to replace something more real * What happens when parts of the self go into hiding, and how that disconnection is felt in the body * Why being seen is not the same as being known, and what actually allows the self to return A Question to Sit With: What moments in your life make you feel out of touch with who you are? Take a breath, stay curious, and explore what it truly means to Mind The Body. Join the Community * Subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend who’s exploring body image healing, the mind–body connection, emotional healing, and the patterns that shape how we see ourselves. * Connect or learn more: www.yvettevuaran.com [http://www.yvettevuaran.com/]  * Sign up for my Mind The Body Newsletter [https://www.yvettevuaran.com/signup-52d63cef-7882-4aaa-8e09-aae41281f6e0] * Follow @mindthebodypodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mindthebodypodcast/] @yvettevuaran [https://www.instagram.com/yvettevuaran/]

The Changing Body - Perimenopause, Identity and What We're Really Carrying : Episode 12

🎧 Episode 12: The Changing Body - Perimenopause, Identity and What We're Really Carrying Something is happening that remains largely unspoken, yet deeply felt. In this episode of Mind The Body, I explore the psychological and relational experience of perimenopause - a biological transition that also reshapes identity, visibility, and self-perception. This conversation moves beyond symptoms to examine what it means to inhabit a changing body in a culture that equates a woman’s worth with youth. Drawing on clinical experience, psychoanalytic thinking, and research on body image, I look at how this transition can surface long-held questions about worth, desirability, and belonging, and why, for some women, it can feel less like a passage and more like a quiet unravelling. We also explore the emotional context behind the rising use of GLP-1 medications in midlife women, asking what might sit beneath the desire to change the body at this particular moment in time. In This Episode: * How perimenopause reshapes a woman’s relationship to her body and sense of self * Why this transition can activate deeper questions of worth, identity, and attachment * The difference between true acceptance and a quiet withdrawal from the body * What may sit beneath the urge to “fix” the body, and why it often isn’t about the body at all * The emotional and cultural context behind increasing GLP-1 use in midlife A Question to Sit With: What is this moment in your body bringing up for you? References: Szymona-Pałkowska, K., Adamczuk, J., Sapalska, M., Gorbaniuk, O., Robak, J. M., & Kraczkowski, J. J. (2019). Body image in perimenopausal women. Menopause Review, 18(4), 210–216. Murphy, M. B., Lane, A., Cuskelly, G., & Heavey, P. M. (2025). Experiences of weight and body shape changes during perimenopause. Women & Health, 65(10), 861–870. Kolod, S. (2022). I’m not myself today: Dialogues with Philip Bromberg. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 58(2–3), 321–334. eMarketer (2025). Twice as many US consumers now using GLP-1s. Retrieved from https://www.emarketer.com/content/twice-many-us-consumers-now-using-glp-1s [https://www.emarketer.com/content/twice-many-us-consumers-now-using-glp-1s] Take a breath, stay curious, and explore what it truly means to Mind The Body. Join the Community * Subscribe or follow the show so you never miss an episode. * Share this episode with a friend who’s exploring body image healing, the mind–body connection, emotional healing, and the patterns that shape how we see ourselves. * Connect or learn more: www.yvettevuaran.com [http://www.yvettevuaran.com/]  * Sign up for my Mind The Body Newsletter [https://www.yvettevuaran.com/signup-52d63cef-7882-4aaa-8e09-aae41281f6e0] * Follow @mindthebodypodcast [https://www.instagram.com/mindthebodypodcast/] @yvettevuaran [https://www.instagram.com/yvettevuaran/]