Dr Jessica Alleva
Dr Jessica Alleva
The Netherlands
“What if we helped people to focus less on their physical appearance, and to focus more on their body functionality—i.e., everything that their body is able to do.”
Canadian born, Dr Alleva lives in the Netherlands, where she is the leading body image researcher at Maastricht University. With a PhD in Psychology, she’s pioneered new ways of thinking about how we enhance our relationships with our bodies.
Dr Alleva’s work has impacted people across the globe, particularly underrepresented and underserved groups. This includes working with gender diverse individuals, those living with chronic illness, and pregnant and postpartum women. She’s an Associate Editor at the leading academic journal Body Image and a writer for Psychology Today.
How did you come to be a Dr in Psychology?
As a child and young adult, I witnessed many of my family members die from various forms of cancer. At a young age, I learned that life is short and that time is precious, and I knew that I wanted to make a positive difference in the world. That is why I had originally aspired to become a medical doctor. To this end, I completed a bachelor in Biomedical Sciences at University College Roosevelt (the Netherlands), and planned to return to my home country (Canada) to complete further medical studies.
However, during my bachelor studies, I discovered a passion for psychology, and the importance of pursuing a career in this field. I had also completed internships at a hospital in the Netherlands, on the maternity and gynecology wards. It was during these internships that I discovered how fulfilling it could be to connect to patients on a personal level, and how vital the “personal” was to people’s experiences of their medical care and of their bodies.
At this point, I made the decision to switch career paths, and completed a Research Master in Psychopathology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. During this programme, I completed both clinical and research-based internships. My internships focused on anxiety and eating disorders. While I found my work with clients to be very rewarding, I ultimately fell in love with the research even more. After this, I decided to pursue a PhD in Psychology, and was fortunate to be awarded with a position in the area of body image.
Tell us about a distinctive memory of how body image affected you?
As a child, I had a medical condition called strabismus, which caused my left eye to turn inward. From a young age, I learned just how much one’s physical appearance can affect how other people judge you, and how you feel about yourself as a whole. After several surgeries, by age 18, I had straight eyes, and finally felt that I was “normal” compared to my peers.
At that age, I had moved to the Netherlands to pursue my bachelor studies. Looking back, I can identify that being so far away from home was very stressful, and I did not have the tools to support myself. I was also intensely focused on my medical studies. In the end, I took my distress out on my body, and became obsessed with becoming as thin as possible—a goal that I never felt I could achieve. Within a few years, I had developed an eating disorder. My entire life revolved around my studies and my eating disorder, and nothing else. Relationships with friends and family suffered, and I no longer made time (or enjoyed) my former hobbies.
Why did you get into body image and mental health research and work?
My experience of having had an eating disorder helped to shift my career pathway from medical sciences to psychology. Interestingly, when I struggled with an eating disorder, I was unable to see the good in myself, but was always able to see the good in others, and to uplift them. I had many friends and peers who also suffered from negative body image and disordered eating, and would encourage them to love and accept their bodies. These friends pushed back: You’re telling us to love and accept our bodies, and yet you are not doing the same for yourself! I realised that they were right, and that I needed to apply that same lens to myself. This led me to ask questions like: Why are so many people unhappy with their body? Where does our idea of “beauty” come from? Why does our physical appearance matter so much? What could we be doing with our time and energy, if it were not so wrapped up in negative body image? Eventually, I began treatment for an eating disorder and dived into the literature on body image, eating disorders, media, feminism, etc.
Even though having had an eating disorder had many negative effects on my life, I ultimately view it as a “blessing,” because it contributed to my career shift, and motivates me to do the important work that I do to this day. I know intimately how negative body image and disordered eating can take over one’s life, and how important it is to foster positive body image to achieve well-being and to lead a fulfilling life. Importantly, I also know that it is possible to recover, and to ultimately have a positive relationship with your body.
As I finished my Research Master in Psychopathology and recovered from an eating disorder, a PhD position opened up on the area of body image interventions, and I knew that this was “for me.” I was so fortunate to have been selected for this position, and have been formally researching body image ever since!
What work are you most proud of to date?
During my PhD research (2011-2015), I developed a research line that investigated a novel approach to improving body image: What if we helped people to focus less on their physical appearance, and to focus more on their body functionality—i.e., everything that their body is able to do? This led to the development of Expand Your Horizon (Alleva et al., 2015), an online programme that helps people to identify and appreciate what their body is able to do. Expand Your Horizon has been applied to people across diverse social identities and experiences (e.g., people with rheumatoid arthritis, visible differences), and is currently the most effective technique for fostering a more positive body image (Guest et al., 2019).
Beyond the research work that I do, I am also very proud of the teacher that I have become. For example, I created and teach a bachelor-level course on the topic of body image, within the Bachelor of Psychology at Maastricht University (the Netherlands). Each year, students tell me how much they have learned from this course, both with regards to their broader studies in psychology, as well as personally. For many, the course is an eye-opener and has helped many students explore their relationship with their body, and identify ways to transition from a negative body image to a more positive body image that resists societal appearance pressures.
I am also immensely proud of the work that I do outside of the university, which attracts both national and international attention. I am routinely interviewed by national and international press on positive body image and have informed the development of documentaries, podcasts, and television series. I have also had the pleasure of consulting with leading brands on how to promote positive body image through their products and services.
Why is this work important to you, where do you see it going and who would you like to work with?
Our work on Expand Your Horizon has inspired global research and uncovered that functionality appreciation is a key component of positive body image and embodiment. In doing so, this research has revealed exciting and novel opportunities for fostering positive body image. While I believe that empowering individuals to promote and protect their own positive body image is essential, I also believe that true and sustainable change needs to happen at larger, societal and systemic levels—for example, in social and mass media, and within educational and health systems. I am excited to partner with brands and organisations that are not afraid to think outside the square and push the limits to bring about positive change.
The Small Print
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology), Maastricht University (2011-2015)
Research Master of Psychopathology, Maastricht University (2009-2011)
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, University College Roosevelt (2006-2009)
Current Appointments
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University (2016-date)
Associate Editor, Body Image: An International Journal of Research (2016-present)
Other Appointments
Writer for Observant, Maastricht University’s Independent Newspaper (2019-present)
Writer for Psychology Today (2018-present)
Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research, UK (2016-present)
Publications
Can be viewed here
Honors & Awards
China Scholarship Council Grant from the Chinese Government to fund two PhD projects on the areas of body image, cosmetic surgery, gender identity, and sexual orientation (2018 and 2021)
Diversity and Inclusivity Grant from Maastricht University to fund two research projects on the areas of (body) diversity and (body) inclusivity (2018 and 2020)
Distinguished Women Scientists Fund from the Dutch Network of Women Professors to fund a research visit to University of Gothenburg (2017)
Seymour Fisher Outstanding Body Image Dissertation Award from Body Image: An International Journal of Research (2017)
Rubicon Grant from the Dutch Research Council to fund my postdoctoral research at the Centre for Appearance Research in the UK (2016-2018)
Huygens International Talent Scholarship from the Nuffic Organisation to fund my Research Master programme at Maastricht University (2009-2011)
When I’m not working, you’ll find me…
Playing with my kids! Favourite activities include colouring, Playdoh, playing cars, and going to playgrounds.
Painting and drawing, when my kids are napping.
Chatting, watching TV series, and playing Nintendo with my partner, when the kids are in bed at night.
Traveling to Canada to visit family and to spend time in nature.
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