What is the Body Project?

Backed by two decades of research and evaluation data, the Body Project is a group-based intervention that provides a forum for women and girls to confront unrealistic beauty ideals and engages them in the development of healthy body image through verbal, written, and behavioral exercises. The Body Project was developed by researchers at Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Oregon Research Institute, and has been delivered to over one million young women around the world.

The conceptual basis for the Body Project is that if girls and young women voluntarily argue against the societal appearance-ideal, this will result in a reduced subscription to this ideal and to consequent decreases in eating disorder risk factors and eating disordered behaviors.

What are the Objectives of the Body Project?

  1. Define the “appearance” ideal and explore its origin
  2. Examine the costs of pursuing this ideal
  3. Explore ways to resist pressures to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty
  4. Discuss how to challenge personal body-related concerns
  5. Learn new ways to talk more positively about our bodies
  6. Talk about how we can best respond to future pressures to conform to societal standards of beauty

    Training Options & FAQs

    • One Day Training
      • Who is this for?
        • Up to 16 participants; clinicians or university staff.
      • What are the benefits of the one-day training?
        • This training is for university clinicians or faculty who would like to run the Body Project program on campus. Following the 8-hour training, you are able to run the group as often as you’d like; however, you cannot train additional peers or staff.
      • What is the time commitment?
        • 8-hour training.
      • Where does the training take place?
        • Facilitator trainings are generally hosted virtually through a video conferencing platform.
      • Once I’m a trained facilitator, how many college-aged women can I run groups with?
        • Each group can hold up to 12 college-aged women. You can run the program as many times as you want.
      • What are the training costs?
      • What ongoing support is available post-training?
        • Post training, facilitators are granted access to NEDA’s Body Project portal for ongoing community support and access to resources. For specific implementation questions, you may work with a Body Project Master Trainer for recommended post-training supervision at an additional cost.
      • I would like to be trained in the college Body Project as an individual. What are my options?
    • Two Day Training
      • Who is this for?
        • A combined peer leader and train-the-trainer clinician/faculty training, we can train up to 12 student participants and 8 clinicians/faculty members.
      • What are the benefits of the two day training?
        • A self-sustaining model, this version is great for campuses that want to offer sessions for an extended period of time as it alleviates concerns about staff and student turn over.
      • Where does the training take place?
        • Facilitator trainings are generally hosted virtually through a video conferencing platform.
      • Once I’m a trained facilitator, how many college-aged women can I run groups with?
        • Each group can hold up to 12 college-aged women. You can run the program as many times as you want.
      • What is the time commitment?
        • The training takes place over two eight-hour days. Peers need 13-14 hours of training to complete the program successfully; clinicians and/or faculty need 8-hours of training. Clinicians and/or faculty looking to become trainers will attend both training days.
      • What are the training costs?
      • What ongoing support is available post-training?
        • Post training, facilitators are granted access to NEDA’s Body Project portal for ongoing community support and access to resources. For specific implementation questions, you may work with a Body Project Master Trainer for recommended post-training supervision at an additional cost.

 

Recovery is important to us here at NEDA. We require that applicants with personal experience who are interested in getting involved with the National Eating Disorders Association have two years of strong recovery due to the intense and triggering nature of this program.