The Body Project Training

A world-leading evidence-based programme proven to prevent eating disorders and promote body acceptance.

Welcome to The Body Project.

Are you looking for an evidence-based, cost-effective and sustainable way to…

Promote body acceptance?

  • Address one of the biggest mental health issues for young people today

  • Help people feel respect and acceptance for their bodies

  • Challenge the social pressures that are promoting low body confidence

Prevent eating disorders?

  • Stop rising rates of eating disorders in your community

  • Reduce overwhelm on health services

  • Be at the forefront of prevention and early intervention efforts

Work with leading experts?

  • Gain access to world-leading eating disorder prevention researchers

  • Have the latest science on prevention for girls, women, boys, men, LGBTQIA+ people at your fingertips

The good news?

Preventing eating disorders and promoting body acceptance is possible with The Body Project.

We’re on a mission

to improve the lives of young people by making evidence-based eating disorder prevention and body acceptance interventions widely accessible throughout the UK with our Body Project programme.

Want to join us?

EVERYBODY can train your team in The Body Project

A world-renowned empirically supported programme

Why The Body Project?

Studies show The Body Project can prevent the onset of eating disorders and reduce body dissatisfaction and other risk factors¹⁻².

  • In just 2-days of training from EVERYBODY, your staff can be ready to deliver The Body Project in your community.

  • We use a train-the-trainer format to ensure sustainable and scalable delivery.

  • No other eating disorders prevention programme is supported by such rigorous testing by independent scientists as The Body Project.

Evidence suggests for every 100 young women who take part in The Body Project, 8 cases of eating disorders can be prevented.²

About The Body Project

An evidence-based cognitive dissonance intervention, The Body Project is delivered to small groups of adolescents and young adults who self-identify as having body image concerns and/or the desire to learn about body acceptance. 

During the intervention, participants challenge appearance ideals through group discussions, written activities, role plays and behavioural challenges.

Studies show that The Body Project can be successfully delivered by trained community providers³.

  • The Body Project was originally designed for delivery among young adult women and adolescent girls aged 14-25 years, as they are the most at-risk group for developing body image concerns and disordered eating. Our core training focuses on this population for this reason.

    There is growing evidence to suggest that The Body Project is effective across genders and sexualities⁴.

    More recently, alternative versions of The Body Project have been developed for boys and young adult men, and LGBTQIA+ people. Our Standard and Comprehensive packages offer training and support for these populations, in addition to the core training.

  • The Body Project typically runs across 4 x 1-hour in-person sessions and includes brief at-home exercises.

    Other formats have also been tested and are available to suit different settings (e.g., 2 x 2-hour sessions, 6 x 45-minute sessions).

  • The Body Project can be delivered by trained community providers (e.g. school nurses, counsellors, peer leaders, mental health champions, teachers, university student peer leaders) and eating disorder specialists.

    Individuals trained to deliver The Body Project to groups are referred to as ‘Facilitators’ and must have received training in the Body Project to deliver this programme.

  • The Body Project is supported by more research than any other body image and eating disorder prevention programme.

    Research published in peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and Behavior Therapy, has shown:

    • Girls and women experience significant decreases in internalisation of the cultural beauty standards emphasising thinness and reductions in body dissatisfaction, negative affect, dieting and bulimic symptoms after taking part in the program.These effects have been maintained up to 2.5 years post-intervention.¹⁻²

    • For every 100 women who take part, 8 cases of eating disorders can be prevented.²

  • Dr. Eric Stice (Stanford University) created the Body Project and Dr. Carolyn Becker (Trinity University) pioneered both the strategy of training peer-leaders to facilitate the Body Project and the Train-the-Trainer approach used by EVERYBODY.

    Over the past two decades, The Body Project has been researched and refined by eating disorder and body image experts in multiple research groups around the world, including EVERYBODY’s Founder Professor Phillippa Diedrichs (UWE Bristol).

No other eating disorders prevention and body acceptance programme is supported by such rigorous testing by independent scientists as The Body Project.

Training Packages

In just 2-days of on-site training from EVERYBODY, your staff can be ready to deliver The Body Project in your community.

We use a Train-the-Trainer model to ensure sustainable and scalable delivery.

We offer three training packages to suit different needs and budgets. All of our packages include:

  • On-site training in The Body Project for delivery to adolescent girls and young women (14-25 years).

  • Access to an online resource hub (participant recruitment materials, key journal articles, manuals and workbooks).

  • Email updates as new research and science emerges on dissonance-based eating disorders prevention and body acceptance techniques.

Our Packages

Body Project Training Package Features
Basic

MOST POPULAR

Standard
Comprehensive
On-site Facilitator & Trainer Training
On-site Facilitator & Trainer Training
Online Follow-up Group Supervision
Online Follow-up Group Supervision
Online Booster Training: Boys & Men
Online Booster Training: Boys & Men
Online Booster Training: LGBTQIA+
Online Booster Training: LGBTQIA+
Admin Support
Admin Support
Dissemination & Implementation Support
Dissemination & Implementation Support
Monitoring & Evaluation Support
Monitoring & Evaluation Support

Why train with EVERYBODY?

Skilled Master Trainers

All our Master Trainers have post-graduate qualifications in psychology or a related field. They have extensive experience in delivering and/or researching body image and eating disorder prevention interventions and are committed to evidence-based practice.

Our Master Trainers have been trained in The Body Project by EVERYBODY Founder Professor Phillippa Diedrichs, PhD, a world-renowned eating disorder prevention and body image expert and Professor of Psychology at the Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England.

Work with world-leading eating disorder prevention and body image experts

Professor Diedrichs is a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders . In addition to being on the editorial board for Body Image, she has published over 70 papers and book chapters on body image and eating disorders. The evidence-based programmes that Professor Diedrichs has co-created and evaluated have been delivered to over 80 million young people in partnership with global youth organisations and business, including Unilever, UNICEF, and NHS England.

Phillippa was trained in The Body Project by its creators Dr Eric Stice (Stanford University) and Dr Carolyn Becker (Trinity University). Over the past decade, she has delivered numerous Body Project trainings throughout the UK, Europe and Australia. She has also conducted and published randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of The Body Project and dissonance-based interventions in the UK and internationally.

Community stakeholders and internationally regarded eating disorder prevention researchers and psychologists, including Dr Emily Matheson, Dr Tiffany Brown (Auburn University), Dr Anna Ciao (Western Washington University) and Dr Glen Jankowski (Leeds Beckett University), have also contributed to the development of our group supervision protocols and booster trainings for boys, men and LGBTQIA+ communities.

The Body Project has been used by community health services, schools, universities, businesses and charities.

It’s been delivered to over 4.5 million people in over 136 countries.

  • Dr Carolyn Becker, PhD

    “Phillippa and the team at EVERYBODY are the go-to experts for Body Project training in the UK. Their in depth knowledge and experience of effectively training, evaluating and supporting implementation of The Body Project across sectors in the region is unmatched.

    If you’re looking for a time-efficient, cost-effective and evidence-based way to prevent eating disorders and promote body acceptance in your community, this is your opportunity to work with the best in field.”

    Co-creator of The Body Project

    Professor of Psychology, Trinity University

    Past President, Academy for Eating Disorders

  • Dr Dasha Nicholls, MD

    “Investing in prevention is crucial to reducing the devastating impact that eating disorders can have on the lives of those affected and their loved ones.

    The Body Project training delivered by EVERYBODY offers a scalable evidence-based solution to prevention in the UK led by leading body image and eating disorder experts.”

    National Specialist Advisor on Eating Disorders, NHS England

    Clinical Reader in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Imperial College London

    Past President, Academy for Eating Disorders

  • Sam Clark-Stone, FRSA

    “Deciding to commission Body Project Training was an important step forward for Gloucestershire. It’s evidence-based, cost-effective and allows us to mobilise members of our community to deliver effective eating disorder prevention programming outside of the clinical environment.

    Like most health services, we’ve struggled to keep up with the demand for eating disorder treatment and support. Investing in prevention and early intervention in the community at a local level is imperative to turning this around.

    The training was brief, engaging and professional. It inspired my colleagues and I strongly recommend it.”

    Lead Clinician

    Eating Disorders Service

    Gloucestershire Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust

We’ve worked with…

FAQs

  • The Body Project is an evidence-based eating disorder prevention programme that challenges gendered stereotypes and beauty ideals. Proven to reduce eating disorder risk by up to 60%, it has reached 4.5 million participants in 136 countries. It is delivered to small groups of adolescents and young adults over 4-6 hours by trained facilitators.

    Our Booster Trainings (Men & Boys; LGBTQIA+) are offered online via Zoom or MS Teams.

  • Using cognitive dissonance techniques, it helps participants develop skills to reject unrealistic appearance pressures, improve body image, and reducing appearance ideals. It is designed to address key eating disorder risk factors. It uses a scientifically-backed train-the-trainer model to equip educators, mental health support workers, teachers, nurses, clinicians, and community leaders to deliver The Body Project in schools, universities, NHS Trusts, and local authorities.

  • The Body Project is designed for teenagers and young adults. There are different versions tailored to girls, young women, boys, young men, athletes, LGBTQIA+ groups, and ethnically diverse populations. It is often delivered to students, youth groups, schools, universities, girl guides and scouts, and health centres. We offer training across all of these audiences.

  • Item descriptiOrganisations can participate by undertaking 2-days of staff training. This training will equip staff to become facilitators and trainers through The Body Project’s evidence-based sustaintable train-the-trainer model. This training is conducted in-person, with online booster trainings available for diverse groups (e.g,, men/boys, LGBTQIA+) offered after. We also offer support for monitoring and evaluation, and implementation. NHS, local authorities, charities, universities, schools and public health services benefit from preventiong and early intervention, reducing referrals and treatment costs.on

  • The Body Project is a gold-standard eating disorder prevention program. It is supported by more scientific research than any other body image and eating disorder prevention programme, proving its effectiveness in reducing eating disorder risk by up to 60%. The evidence-base for the Body Project includes meta-analyes, randomised-controlled trials and user feedback from independent research groups around the world, including research conducted in the UK.

  • Yes, EVERYBODY Consulting offers training in The Body Project throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. You can work with our world-leading experts in evidence-based eating disorder prevention and body image training to train your organisation and staff in The Body Project. Our Master Trainers have extensive experience in delivering and researching body image interventions. They are committed to scientifically validated, evidence-based practice, ensuring organisations receive high-quality, research-backed prevention training.

Ready to find out more about The Body Project?

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

References

¹Becker, C.B. & Stice, E. (2017). From Efficacy to Effectiveness to Broad Implementation: Evolution of the Body Project. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 85(8), 767–782. doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000204

²Stice, E., Onipede, Z.A., & Marti, C.N. (2021). A meta-analytic review of trials that tested whether eating disorder prevention programs prevent eating disorder onset. Clinical Psychology Review, 87, doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102046

³Stice, E., Marti, C.N., Shaw, H., & Rohde, P. (2021). Meta-analytic review of dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs: Intervention, participant, and facilitator features that predict larger effects. Clinical Psychology Review, 70, 91-107, doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.04.004

⁴Ciao, A., Duvall, A., Pascual, S., & Kendall, A.L. (2023). Expert peer facilitation of the EVERYbody Project: A randomized-controlled evaluation of a diversity-focused, dissonance-based, universal body image program for college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56, 372-383, doi.org/10.1002/eat.23852

Brown, T.A. & Keel, P.K. (2015). A randomized controlled trial of a peer co-led dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program for gay men. Behavior Research & Therapy, 74, 1-10, doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.08.008