The role of body image in pediatric illness: therapeutic challenges and opportunities.
The body image is the individual's mental representation of his own body, a representation that encompasses both perceptual and ideational components. In this paper I will explore the concept of body image, its development and its relationship to self-image and object relations in children with chronic medical illness. From this discussion and with the help of specific cases of medically ill children I have treated for a variety of psychological symptoms, I will recommend an approach to the assessment and treatment of this challenging group of patients.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA. auwalker@montefiore.org
Audrey
A
Walker
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009769:Object Attachment; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment