Body Project is a prevention program designed for high school and college-age girls using four weekly one-hour group sessions. Groups consist of 5-10 young women. Through a series of verbal, written and behavioral exercises, the program attempts to create dissonance in participants by engaging them in a critique of the thin ideal. Participants are also engaged in body acceptance exercises and role-plays to counter thin-ideal statements and resist peer pressure. Facilitators (group leaders with Masters-level training in a clinical mental health discipline or supervised college peer educators), use activities that are counter-attitudinal to the thin ideal and use motivational enhancement, skill acquisition, social support and group cohesion to create dissonance within the participants. The Body Project is not sufficient as a stand-alone treatment for individuals meeting current criteria for an eating disorder, so attempts should be made to exclude such individuals.
Body Project
A four-session group intervention to prevent the onset of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating among female high school and college students with body image concerns.