Description
This 12-week virtual program is designed for tweens ages 11–13 during a critical developmental window for body image, identity formation, and self-worth. The group focuses on strengthening body image resilience, emotional awareness, and healthy identity development before more entrenched patterns emerge.
Through developmentally appropriate discussions, experiential activities, and peer connection, tweens learn skills for navigating social pressures, strengthening self-worth, understanding emotions, and building a more supportive relationship with their bodies and themselves.
The program includes weekly tween group sessions as well as monthly one-on-one parent psychoeducation sessions to help caregivers support these conversations and reinforce resilience at home. The goal is to create a supportive space where young people can stay connected to who they are while developing the skills needed to navigate early adolescence with confidence and self-understanding.
Group Therapist
Courtney Dowdell is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, Registered Drama Therapist and Board Certified Trainer (RDT/BCT), and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist (CEDS) based in Midtown Manhattan. She works with adolescents and adults navigating eating disorders, disordered eating, body image concerns, anxiety, depression, trauma, and life transitions.
Courtney approaches therapy from a relational and psychodynamic perspective, often within a creative and experiential framework. Her work is informed by Health at Every Size (HAES) principles and an inclusive approach to care. She offers a thoughtful and collaborative space where individuals can slow down, better understand patterns in their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and begin building a more compassionate and sustainable relationship with themselves and their bodies.
Drawing on training in expressive therapies and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Courtney integrates practical tools alongside deeper exploratory work. She helps individuals develop emotional awareness, strengthen coping skills, and learn new ways of responding to difficult feelings, relationships, and life experiences.
Courtney brings warmth, insight, and a deeply attuned presence to the therapy room. She works collaboratively with individuals to explore their stories, understand patterns that may feel stuck, and move toward meaningful and sustainable change.
She received her MA from New York University and previously worked at BALANCE Eating Disorder Treatment Center in New York City. Courtney offers in-person therapy at her Manhattan office and virtual sessions throughout New York State.
