The Child and Adolescent Program within the WELL Center at Drexel University conducts research and provides high-quality, evidence-based treatment and clinical services to children and adolescents ages 12-22 with eating and weight concerns, as well as interventions for parents whose adolescents are currently receiving treatment.

FOR PARENTS

Eating and weight issues such as binge eating, purging, restrictive eating and overweight/obesity often start during childhood and adolescence. Eating disorders and obesity can poorly impact a child or teen’s quality of life and may cause severe and life-threatening health complications. Early detection and effective treatment are necessary to prevent the problematic medical and psychological consequences of eating and weight disorders. Further, improvements to parenting practices around food and emotion are associated with better outcomes for adolescents receiving treatment.

Complete the first step of entering a research study or the clinic

ONGOING NO-COST TREATMENT PROGRAMS

Mind Your Heart for adolescent girls (ages 14-19) with overweight/obesity

Mind Your Heart is a healthy lifestyle program tailored to meet the needs of adolescent girls living in Philadelphia. Adolescents who are eligible for this no-cost program will be randomized to either an Acceptance-based treatment or health education program, through which they will attend group sessions and receive support from group leaders over the course of 6 months. Participants will be asked to complete 5 assessments throughout the study to help us measure the effectiveness of the program and will be compensated for the completion. To find out more, email wellteen@drexel.edu or complete an interest survey by clicking here.

Project STAR for adolescents (ages 14-18) with overweight/obesity

Does your teen want to lose weight and create a healthy lifestyle? Your teen may be eligible to virtually attend 12, no-cost weekly/biweekly group sessions. In these group sessions, teens will learn to eat a balanced diet, increase their physical activity, improve their sleep, and lead a healthier life. Parents and teens will complete surveys and interviews as part of assessments. To find out more, email wellteen@drexel.edu or complete an interest survey by clicking here.

Project RESET for adolescents (ages 12-18) with eating disorders

Project RESET is an individual therapy study that helps to regulate sleep and reduce binge eating among adolescents. This study will be recruiting adolescents (ages 12-18) to complete 16 weekly therapy sessions over HIPAA-compliant Zoom. We will be testing the additive benefit of incorporating a sleep treatment module into traditional cognitive behavioral therapy for binge-eating in adolescents. Participants will be asked to complete 3 assessments throughout the study to test the effectiveness of the treatment and are eligible to receive compensation for each assessment. All eligible participants will receive treatment from a trained clinician free of charge.

Family Safety Net for adolescents and young adults (ages 12-22) with eating disorders

Does your teen struggle with an eating disorder? You and your teen may be eligible to receive 16 weeks of no-cost family therapy treatment for eating disorders. This treatment focuses on improving family dynamics and increasing healthy emotional communication within the family, with the goal of improving emotion regulation skills in the family and decreasing eating disorder symptoms. Parents and teens will complete surveys and interviews as part of assessments. To find out more, email wellteen@drexel.edu or visit the Family Safety Net home page.

Emotion-Coaching for Parents

Are you a parent whose adolescent is within the first 8 weeks of Family Based Treatment? This study will be recruiting parents for an emotion-coaching study over zoom. The group-based treatment will teach caregivers skills to recognize, understand, and manage their emotion responses to their child’s behavior and skills to support parent-child communication and healthy coping skills. We are testing the feasibility and acceptability of a new treatment, informed by other evidence-based parenting therapies. Participants will be asked to complete surveys throughout the study, and a qualitative interview after the intervention, and are eligible to receive compensation for assessments. All eligible participants will receive treatment from a trained clinician free of charge. To find out more, email cmt389@dreel.edu, visit the Emotion-Coaching for Parents Webpage, or complete an interest survey.

Teen Citizen Scientists: A Youth Advisory Board

The Teen Citizen Scientists (TCS) is a newly launched youth advisory board that helps us improve our research by giving the teens and young adults (14-22 years old) the ability to provide feedback on study design, develop recruitment strategies, and communicate scientific findings to the community. Teens will have the opportunity to get involved with an NIH-funded grant and learn about research in clinical psychology. This is a paid ($20/hr), low-burden activity (1-hour meetings every other month). To find our more, email questions to the board director, Jannah Moussaoui (jrm486@drexel.edu), or complete an application by clicking here.

WELL Clinic — The WELL Clinic provides fee-for-service treatment options for individuals struggling with eating and weight disorders.