Katelyn Moorman – Staff Writer
Designed to prevent students from developing eating disorders and body issues, the Body Project helps people talk through issues they have with current disorders.
The Body Project is comprised of two educational, peer-led sessions which are each two hours long.
Lena Newlin, the coordinator for the Body Project, said a psychology professor who worked with eating disorders in students brought the project to the University of Wyoming a few years ago.
Newlin said the Body Project is primarily for “people who struggle with body issues and eating disorders on campus.”
Newlin said research suggests that people feel more positively about their bodies after talking through these types of body issues and social issues.
Participants experience this positivity during the Body Project sessions on campus, she said.
Newlin said the program “offers support and interesting conversations about body image and society’s messages about women’s bodies.”
It is these conversations that help prevent negative thinking in relation to body image among students.
“Everyone who has participated—that we know—has had a positive experience,” Newlin said. In order to become one of the peer leaders that lead the group discussions in the sessions, Newlin said that a student should become a wellness ambassador first.
“We ask people to participate in the event” before trying to become a group leader for the discussions,” she said.
The Body Project is offering several sessions this semester. The next session with openings is 3:30 p.m. Oct. 1. There is no fee to attend, and the events are open to undergraduate and graduate students. Registration is necessary to participate in the Body Project. Register at: https://wellnesscenterprograms.as.me/classes.
