Letting Go of Perfect

A Gay Man's Guide to Healing from Body Dysmorphia

OUT NOW | Jessica Kingsley Publishers

What happens when the body becomes the measure of our worth?

Letting Go of Perfect explores the relationship between body image, shame, perfectionism and the pressure to become someone we believe will finally be acceptable.

Drawing on my own experiences of body dysmorphia alongside clinical knowledge and psychological research, the book examines how our relationships with our bodies develop, why certain patterns become so difficult to change and what healing can involve beyond altering our appearance.

What's Inside

The book explores the pressures surrounding gay male body image, including masculinity, comparison, dieting, exercise, appearance ideals and the influence of shame on how we see ourselves.

It also examines the relationship between personal history, self-worth and the ways we attempt to gain acceptance or regain a sense of control.

Rather than offering another set of instructions for improving your body, it asks what might happen if we began to understand our relationship with it differently.

Why I Wrote It

This is my most personal book.

My experiences of body dysmorphia have shaped both my understanding of myself and the direction of my professional work. I wanted to explore a subject that remains difficult to discuss openly, particularly among gay men, without pretending that healing follows a straightforward path.

Although written through the lens of gay male experience, many of its questions about shame, perfectionism and self-worth have a wider relevance.