- Selena Gomez opened up about body-shaming and emotional healing in her Allure cover story.
- She uses dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to process painful emotions and trace their origins.
- Her sensitivity to weight comments stems from lupus-related health struggles.
- Gomez emphasizes the importance of doing the emotional work, even when it’s hard.
- She’s now focused on self-love, therapy, and preparing for her wedding to Benny Blanco.
Selena Gomez is no stranger to public scrutiny, but in her latest Allure cover story, the singer and actress reveals how she’s learned to confront the emotional toll of body-shaming — not by changing her critics, but by changing how she responds.
Gomez, who has long battled lupus and undergone treatments including chemotherapy and a kidney transplant, says her weight fluctuations have made her especially sensitive to comments about her body. But instead of internalizing the cruelty, she’s turned to dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a form of talk therapy designed to help people navigate intense emotions and trace them back to their roots.
She describes the process as “peeling away layers” — asking herself why certain remarks sting and uncovering the deeper experiences that shaped those reactions. One example she shared was being called “fat,” which triggered memories from a time when her health struggles caused significant weight gain.
Through DBT, Gomez has learned to interrogate her feelings rather than suppress them. She says the work is difficult but necessary, and that emotional regulation is a skill everyone should learn — especially in a world where cruelty often masquerades as commentary.
Her openness comes at a time when body-shaming remains rampant online, and her story offers a blueprint for resilience. Rather than retreating from the spotlight, Gomez has embraced her vulnerability, using therapy, self-reflection, and a strong support system to reclaim her peace.
She also credits her ability to heal to taking breaks from social media and surrounding herself with grounding influences, including her partner Benny Blanco. As she prepares for her upcoming wedding, Gomez says she finally feels unapologetic about who she is — and that’s the real victory.
