About Marcia Hutchinson

Career Highlights

I am a Licensed Psychologist working in private practice since 1982. I'm also the author of several pioneering books in the field of body image in women. —Transforming Body Image: Learning To Love The Body You Have) and its sequel, 200 Ways to Love Your Body.  I have been trained as a Gestalt therapist and specialize in the use of guided therapeutic imagery as a way of creating psychological change.

I have also studied the Feldenkrais Method, a far-reaching body-mind approach that uses movement to enhance somatic awareness. My somatic training has made me exquisitely aware of the body component of psychological issues: how body cues can reveal and access deep psychological meaning and truth.

I have always been interested in the relationship between mind and body. In recent years I have expanded my focus beyond body image issues to include the impact of physical illness on psychological health and its reverse: the mind's role in causing illness and creating health.

They say that we teach what we need to learn. The therapeutic issues I am most interested in are those that have challenged me in my own life: my relationship to my own body; discovering and understanding my life purpose and place in the scheme of things; and dealing with loss. My own life experiences always inform my approach to therapy and give me a deep glimpse into my clients' challenges and an empathy for their struggles.

Teaching and Training

I was formerly on the faculty of the Union Institute and the Graduate Department of Counseling Psychology at Lesley University where I taught courses in Body Image and Body-Centered Psychotherapy to practicing therapists and therapists-in-training.

I have led workshops for lay and professional audiences and In-Service trainings on Body Image and the Mind-Body Interface to institutions such as: Harvard University, MIT, University of Michigan, Dartmouth College, Association of Fitness in Business, American Dietetic Association.

Media Exposure

Frequently quoted by the media, I served as a consultant for "ABC's 20-20 News" segment on body image; was featured on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show, People Are Talking, Attitudes, and The Good Day Show as well as on talk-radio shows throughout N. America.  My work has been featured in many publications, including the N. Y. Times, Dr. Andrew Weil's Seff Healing, Woman of Power, McCall's, New Woman, Vogue, Mademoiselle, Shape, Marie Claire, Savvy magazines, and more.