Body image counselling

If your relationship with your body affects how you eat, dress, or show up in life, body image counselling can help untangle that. I offer online sessions across Australia in English and Russian, using ACT and a weight neutral approach, no before and after promises.

For some people this happens occasionally. For others, it’s constant. A background noise that follows them through every meal, every social situation, every time they catch their reflection.

What is body image

Body image isn’t just about how you look. It’s about how you feel in your body — the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that show up when you think about your appearance. Negative body image can include:

Feeling uncomfortable or ashamed of how you look

Avoiding mirrors, photos, or social situations

Comparing yourself constantly to others

Believing your body needs to change before you can feel okay

Spending significant time thinking about your appearance

Feeling that your body is somehow wrong or not enough

This is sometimes called appearance anxiety and it can quietly take over more of your life than you realise.

Woman's hand and its reflection in the mirror

What’s really going on underneath

Body image distress rarely lives in the mirror. It lives in the stories we carry about what bodies are supposed to look like, what our body says about us as a person, and what we deserve based on how we look.

These stories often start early. Diet culture, social media, comments from family, experiences of being seen or unseen — all of it shapes how we relate to our own body.

The work isn’t about learning to love your body every day. It’s about building a relationship with your body that isn’t based on judgment, what’s sometimes called body neutrality. A relationship where your body doesn’t have to look a certain way for you to feel okay inside.

About this practice

Yana Madorski is a Master’s-qualified counsellor working with emotional eating, body image and anxiety online across Australia and internationally.

Book Appointment

Professional credentials:

Master of Counselling

Diploma of Counselling

Australian Counselling Association Level 2 Registered Counsellor

Bupa registered provider

Counselling for Eating Disorders specialised training

Eating Disorders Clinical Foundations training

Psychiatry for counsellors training

Trauma-informed practice

Bilingual — sessions available in English and Russian

Online via secure telehealth

Available across Australia and internationally

Therapeutic approaches I draw on:

ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

CFT — Compassion-Focused Therapy

Somatic awareness — body-based approaches to emotional regulation

Polyvagal Theory — nervous system-informed practice

Mindful Eating — non-diet, present-moment relationship with food and hunger cues

Anti-diet philosophy — informed by the work of Marsha Herrin & Judith Matz

Person-centred counselling

How body image counselling can help

Counselling for body image isn’t about changing how you look. It’s about changing your relationship with what you see, and more importantly, what you feel.

Together we work on:

Understanding where your body image beliefs came from

Noticing the connection between your nervous system and how you perceive your body

Reducing the mental space your appearance takes up

Building more flexible, self-compassionate ways of being in your body

Separating your worth from your weight, shape, or appearance

Woman hugging herself — And it moves at your pace.

Who this is for

This page might be for you if:

You avoid certain clothes, mirrors, photos or social situations because of how you feel about your body

You feel your body needs to change before your life can really begin

You compare yourself to others and always come up short

You’ve struggled with disordered eating and body image at the same time

You want to feel more at home in your own skin

You don’t need a diagnosis. You don’t need to be in crisis. You just need to be tired of carrying this.

My approach to body image counselling

I draw on ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), somatic awareness, and polyvagal theory — approaches that work with both the mind and the body.

Rather than challenging every negative thought, we work on loosening the grip those thoughts have. We get curious about what’s happening in your body, not just your mind. And we build something steadier — a sense of self that doesn’t depend on how you look on a given day.

Sessions are online, available across Australia, in English and Russian.

Common questions

Is body image counselling the same as therapy for eating disorders?

Not exactly. Body image distress and eating disorders often overlap, but you don’t need to have an eating disorder to struggle with how you feel about your body. If both are present, we work with both.

How long does it take?

It varies. Some clients notice shifts within a few sessions. Deeper patterns take longer. We work at your pace and check in regularly about how things are moving.

Do you offer sessions in Russian?

Yes. I offer body image counselling in both English and Russian.

Is this available outside Sydney?

Yes — all sessions are online, available from everywhere around the world.

You don’t have to keep fighting your body.

If this resonates, even a little, a free 15-minute intro call is a gentle place to start. No commitment, just a conversation.