YOUR BODY IS NOT THE PROBLEM
Weight Inclusive Therapy in California & Colorado
There is a person who has spent years being told the body is something to fix, shrink, or apologize for. Who has sat in a doctor's office and watched every concern get blamed on weight, who has been in therapy before and felt the conversation drift back to the scale no matter what was actually brought into the room. If that sounds familiar, this page is for the person who is tired of being treated like a problem to solve. Weight-inclusive therapy is a space where the body is not on trial, where the whole person gets care, and where anxiety, depression, trauma, and life get to be the actual focus.
THE WEIGHT BEING CARRIED
Diet culture has been wearing a clinical hat for a long time.
It shows up in doctors who blame every symptom on weight. It shows up in therapists who nod along while quietly treating weight loss as the goal. It shows up in the messages that have been absorbed since childhood about what a body is supposed to look like, what it is allowed to do, and what it is worth. By the time someone walks into a therapy room, the body has often already been through years of being treated like the enemy.
ARE ANY OF THESE SPOT ON?
You may have found me if any of these sound familiar
You have been told by doctors that every concern, from anxiety to knee pain to fatigue, is "just" about weight.
You have been in therapy before and felt the conversation keep drifting back to the body, no matter what you actually brought in.
You are tired of therapists who nod along while still treating weight loss as the goal.
Your body has been a battleground your whole life, and you are exhausted from the fight.
You want to talk about anxiety, depression, trauma, or family stuff without every session turning into a conversation about a scale.
You have experienced healthcare trauma from providers who dismissed you, shamed you, or refused to look past the body.
You carry internalized fatphobia and want to untangle it without being made to feel broken for having it.
You are looking for a therapist grounded in fat liberation and Health at Every Size, not one who just avoids the topic.
You want to feel at home in your body, not just tolerate it until it changes.
You are tired of shrinking, apologizing, and making yourself smaller to be taken seriously.
That is not the story told here.
WHAT CHANGES HERE
A new chapter starts with small shifts
Every session turning into a conversation about weight
→ To sessions that are actually about your life
Feeling like the body is a problem to solve
→ To care that treats the body as worthy as it is
Healthcare trauma from providers who dismissed you
→ To a space where your concerns are taken seriously
Internalized fatphobia running in the background
→ To untangling it without shame or judgment
Shrinking, apologizing, and making yourself smaller
→ To taking up space without needing permission
MEET YOUR WEIGHT-INCLUSIVE THERAPIST
Stephanie Hardison, LCSW
Hi, I am Stephanie, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and I specialize in weight-inclusive therapy for adults who are tired of being told the body is the problem and ready for care that treats the whole person as the point.
I know what it is like to sit in a room where the body gets blamed for everything else. I have watched colleagues attribute a client's depression and anxiety entirely to weight, ignoring everything else going on. I have seen fatphobia show up in clinical settings in real time, and I built this practice as a direct response to that.
My work is grounded in fat liberation and Health at Every Size. That means I do not treat body size as a diagnosis; I do not assume weight loss is the goal, and I do not suggest it. If you have real health concerns, we will talk about them. But we will do it without weight stigma, without diet talk, and without pretending that shame ever helped anyone.
You do not have to love your body to deserve respectful care. You just have to be in a space where the body is not on trial.
If that kind of relief sounds like the missing piece, this is the place for it, and I would be honored to walk through that chapter with you.
FIND ANSWERS TO FAQ HERE
What does weight-inclusive therapy actually mean?
Weight-inclusive therapy means the body size is not treated as the problem, and weight loss is not treated as the goal. It is grounded in the understanding that health is not determined by a number on a scale, and that shame, stigma, and restriction cause real harm. In practice, that means I do not bring up weight, I do not suggest dieting, and I do not treat the body as something to be fixed. Instead, we focus on what you actually came in for, whether that is anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, family stuff, or anything else. If health comes up, we talk about it in a way that is respectful, evidence-based, and free of weight stigma.
Is this the same as Health at Every Size?
Health at Every Size, often shortened to HAES, is a framework that weight-inclusive therapy draws from, but they are not the same thing. HAES is a broader movement and set of principles that promotes body respect, critical awareness of weight science, and weight-neutral approaches to health. Weight-inclusive therapy applies those principles in a clinical setting. The overlap is that both reject weight stigma, both refuse to treat weight loss as a goal, and both center the whole person instead of the body size. My work is grounded in both, along with fat liberation, which is the understanding that fatphobia is a systemic issue, not just an individual one.
What if I do have health concerns that are related to weight?
That is a fair question, and it is one I take seriously. Real health concerns deserve real attention, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What I will not do is treat weight as the cause of every issue or weight loss as the solution to every problem. If you have a specific concern, we can talk about it openly, look at the actual evidence, and figure out what kind of care would be genuinely helpful. That might mean working with a weight neutral dietitian, a HAES aligned doctor, or other providers who understand this framework. It does not mean ignoring your health. It means approaching it without shame and without the assumption that smaller is always healthier.
Do you work with clients who are not fat?
Yes. Weight inclusive therapy is for anyone who has been harmed by diet culture, weight stigma, or the way the medical system treats bodies. That includes fat clients, but it also includes clients in smaller bodies who have their own history with restriction, body image, or healthcare trauma. The framework is not about body size. It is about refusing to let the scale be the measure of a person's worth or the focus of their care. If the values of weight inclusivity, fat liberation, and Health at Every Size resonate with you, this space is for you.
What are the fees, and do you accept insurance?
Individual therapy session (50 min) — $200
Extended therapy session (120 min) — $400
Therapy intensive (4+ hours) — starting at $1,200 (ages 18+ only)
Payment is due at the time of service.
I accept self-pay, out-of-network (OON). If you have an insurance plan, you may still be able to get partial reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits.
I can provide you with a superbill (an itemized receipt) to submit to your insurance for reimbursement. I also work with Thrizer to help make this process easier for clients. You’re welcome to ask about this during our consultation.
Priority for the reduced fee tiers goes to those who are financially struggling and identify as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+. These slots are limited, and there is no guarantee that any will be available at the time you call. Please let me know if you need a reduced fee during our call. If I cannot accommodate, I am happy to point you in a direction to meet your financial needs.
READY TO START WEIGHT-INCLUSIVE THERAPY?
Let's do it!
You have spent a long time being told the body is the problem. There is another version of this story, one where the body is not on trial, and the whole person gets to be the point. Reach out to schedule a free consultation, and let's talk about whether this is the right fit for where you are right now.
