Long before daughters consciously think about food or their bodies, they are absorbing powerful lessons from their environment — particularly within the mother-daughter relationship. Research in developmental and clinical psychology shows that family dynamics and everyday interactions, such as comments about weight, food choices, appearance, or “health,” along with mothers’ own eating behaviors and body attitudes, play a central role in shaping how daughters come to feel about their bodies and relate to food. These influences are often subtle and unintentional, yet studies suggest they can have lasting effects on a girls’ body image, eating behaviors, and emotional well-being across the lifespan.

In this workshop, body image researcher and therapist Sophie Whynacht, PhD, explores how these patterns develop and how they can be disrupted. Drawing on psychological studies and years of clinical experience, she discusses the most common ways negative body image and disordered eating behaviors are formed at home — and the relational and cognitive shifts that help interrupt these cycles. Dr. Whynacht offers a compassionate, non-blaming framework for understanding maternal influence and creating healthier, more supportive relationships with food and body across generations.

You will learn:

• How mothers’ beliefs, behaviors, and “food talk” shape daughters’ body image and eating patterns
• The subtle ways diet culture and weight stigma are transmitted within families
• Why well-intentioned messages about health, weight, and food can backfire
• Developmentally appropriate strategies for helping mothers and daughters cultivate a more supportive relationship with food and their bodies