Changing Bodies. Changing Lives.
Research shows that 89% of overweight of obese adolescents become obese adults. Weight issues can have significant medical effects, including many forms of cancer, diabetes, asthma, coronary heart disease, and stroke. Of course, overweight is more than just physical. Many families recognize their child's unhappiness, negative outlook, and low self-esteem as connected to overweight or obesity.
But here is the good news: Losing less than just 10% of one's body weight can yield positive health effects. So, if your child weighs 82 kg, losing just 8 kg can have significant physical and emotional benefits.
Wellspring's Clinical Programme
Knowing the many challenges faced by overweight children, teens, and young adults, Wellspring researchers have developed a clinical programme designed to empower campers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to be successful long-term weight controllers.
Wellspring's clinical programme includes cognitive behavioural therapy, dietary management, nutrition and culinary training, and activity management, and has been proven successful in helping children, adolescents and adults lose weight and keep it off.
The Solution: Changing Behaviour to Change Lives
Wellspring starts by training students intensively on the set of behaviours proven by research to sustain weight loss permanently—such as self-monitoring, journaling, goal-setting and contracting. Then Wellspring Behavioural Coaches (Masters- or Doctoral-level psychologists or social workers) work with students to overcome any barriers to mastering these behaviours. They are called Behavioural Coaches because they actively coach students toward achieving rapid weight loss and successful, healthy, long-term weight control.
The clinical programme at Wellspring is comparable to the coaching that world-class athletes receive from sports psychologists, as we understand that long-term weight control is like an athletic challenge. A serious athlete sets goals, measures progress, and designs strategies for improvement. He or she is probably very focused on overall health in order to perform at the highest possible level. Successful weight control requires the same level of focus.
CBT for Weight Loss
Behavioural Coaches lead students along the journey to success through group and individual Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions, in which they learn to respond to challenges in healthy ways, improve goal-setting skills, develop frustration tolerance, and practice stress management.
CBT helps overweight teens effectively manage their weight and overcome barriers to successful weight control. Students become self-regulators who can set realistic, achievable goals and stay committed to health and long-term weight control while managing the stress that we all face in daily life.
A group CBT session at Wellspring generally operates as follows:
- Summary of each student's self-monitoring progress since the last meeting
- Discussion of a CBT/weight control topic such as coping mechanisms
- Reading Assignment
- Goal setting and behavioural contracts
Individual sessions are similar in that they review achievement but focus on the details of each student's self-monitoring, barriers to success and how to achieve short- and long-term goals. CBT is the key to successful long-term weight control, which leads to heightened self-esteem, improved mood and outlook, and an increase in energy level.
Wellspring's BCs are Masters- or Doctoral-level clinicians hired and trained by Daniel Kirschenbaum, Ph.D. A professor at Northwestern University Medical School, Dr. Kirschenbaum is a leading expert on weight control who has produced a volume of scientific weight loss research in peer reviewed journals.
In addition to improvements in overall health and well-being, lasting results are achieved at Wellspring. Instead of spending a summer on a fad diet, in a teen fitness programme, or at a large, impersonal fat camp or day camp, students come to Wellspring for life-changing weight loss.
