Mirror exposure therapy, what does it consist of?

Mirror exposure therapy is a psychological technique for the body and soul. It helps to treat negative body image, to reduce anxiety, to untie those knots that intensify depression… In short, we are faced with a highly effective strategy to love and reconcile with that person, often neglected, who reflects the surface of a mirror.

It may catch our attention, but there are many women (and also men) who, upon seeing their own image, appreciate a being that is as uncomfortable as it is unpleasant. There are those who see accumulations of fat where there is none. Others only see wrinkles, physical defects, ugliness and contempt. Almost without knowing how, the mirror becomes that space of torture where one’s identity and self-esteem are undermined.

These psychological realities often manifest themselves in clinical entities, such as eating disorders and dysmorphic disorders. Thus, while a healthy person sees themselves every day integrating with acceptance and pride every detail of their own body, patients with these realities come to feel bad about details that are not real. All of this leads to very high suffering.

In these cases, where body dissatisfaction is so devastating, it has been seen that The use of mirror exposure therapy together with the management of emotions and negative thoughts is proving to be very effective.. Let’s see more data below.

Mirror exposure therapy, what is it?

Mirror exposure therapy is highly effective. However, experts still do not understand exactly the mechanisms by which the patient finally comes to accept his own body image. This technique in turn uses various therapeutic tools that can vary depending on the needs of each patient.

The University of Maastricht conducted a study in 2016 that asked about those mechanisms that facilitated improvement in patients with bulimia or low physical acceptance in just over a month. Something they could see is that the fact Working on attributions, biases and the emotional aspect is undoubtedly very significant.The University of Granada also published an interesting work in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry where they scientifically demonstrated how The patients showed even lower levels of cortisol after mirror exposure therapy.

Both investigations undoubtedly help us to understand much more about the processes of this technique. They are the following.

The three techniques of mirror exposure therapy

When carrying out mirror exposure therapy, two very specific techniques are usually used:

Guided exhibition. In this case, the specialized psychologist guides the patient to describe her body while looking in front of the mirror. He must do so in a neutral and objective manner, as if he were describing a canvas.Pure exhibition. In this case, the person freely and authentically expresses all the feelings they experience when seeing their body. Here, as expected, they will feel discomfort when revealing what they perceive about themselves as ugly, unpleasant and even deformed. However, this part is very necessary for the therapeutic process itself.

Likewise, Griffen, TC, Naumann, E., and Hildebrandt, T. (2018) point out that these two techniques are not always effective in all patients. In these situations, a third strategy is used that always ends up facilitating the objectives:

Mirror exposure with positive focus. This tool helps the person reduce distress. The therapist guides the patient to point out those areas of the body that they like the most. You are asked to use positive language. If the person does not see them and does not see anything attractive about their body, the professional can help them. He can do it with phrases like “I think your face is pretty. Your skin tone is healthy and delicate”, “Your hands are also attractive”…

Keys why mirror exposure therapy works

We pointed it out previously. Many people wonder how it is possible that after 6 sessions, patients experience a clear improvement. It is common to reduce stress and improve self-esteem and that the person comes to appreciate those often most problematic areas of their own body. If it is achieved and there is an evident success rate with mirror exposure therapy, it is due to the following.

The 4 pillars of the effectiveness of mirror exposure therapy

Modification of self-interpretations. A person with a dysmorphic or eating disorder relates any adverse situation in their daily life to their body image. If she makes a mistake, if she gets a “no” for an answer, if someone fails her, etc., she attributes it exclusively to her physical appearance. With this therapy, these interpretations are reduced.Attention bias. If you have a sharp nose, thick ankles, broad shoulders, little chest, excessive freckles, etc., your attention bias causes you to only see those areas that you interpret as “defects.” With this clinical approach this bias loses force.Reduction of fear and anxiety. Like any therapy based on exposure to the focus of anxiety, sooner or later we manage to reduce negative emotions by managing to relate positively to that problematic stimulus: the physical body itself.The fourth pillar of mirror exposure therapy is cognitive recycling. This strategy makes it easier for the patient to stop passing their image through the filter of negativity and rejection. It helps you recycle and cleanse your focus to see yourself with greater respect and, above all, appreciation.

As we can guess, This technique may be the answer that many people need. Especially for those who are in that stage, where without having yet developed any eating disorder, they begin to feel rejection by the image reflected in the mirror. It is at this point where it would be highly advisable to ask a professional for help. Let’s think about it.

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