Weight Control Treatment Outcome

Conventional treatment for moderate and severe obesity places one in the passive, patient role. The recipient of treatment is assumed to be incapable of adult decision and is to comply with a diet or treatment program developed by experts. This treatment strategy almost always results in relapse once the program ends or the external source of control is not available. In fact after a lengthy research career studying obesity and its treatment, Dr. Kelly Brownell concludes:

"Dieting seldom results in significant or lasting weight loss, and the majority of individuals who begin dieting will experience dietary failure. A common reaction to diet failure is to blame the failure on not having had enough will-power, with a simultaneous commitment to starting the diet again, but this time promising to try harder."

Despite heroic efforts and extreme methods, medical model treatment for food dependence - including fasting, medication, and residential programs - results in poor long-term outcome. This treatment model places the food dependent person in the patient role - the passive recipient of treatment. The treatment provider, diet program, or other external source of control is the active agent of change. The patient's only responsibility is to comply with - and not rebel against - the rules provided by the external agent. Treatment failures indicate a lack of compliance and hence confirms the patient's intrinsic incompetence, irresponsibility, or disease.

Because the majority of dieters eventually fail to control their weight, most believe that self-management is futile, and an external source of control is required for me to achieve success. But the changes achieved through external agency last only as long as that agent is effective. As a result the vast majority of those who lose weight through such methods weigh more a year later than when they began the program. However, for individuals with the cognitive abilities to appreciate the biological principles that pertain to energy [calorie] balancing and the psychological principles that pertain to dependence and relapse prevention, there is a viable path to good long-term outcome.

In contrast to diets, programs, and group treatment, the self-directed approach described here requires that the individual accept responsibility to develop his or her own plan to react as intended despite local stressors and temptations. This approach is best matched with individuals who are self-directed in other areas of their lives, have good problem solving skills, and an internal locus of control.

If you are still browsing and have not begun the path to action, please take advantage of the self-tests below. You may share the results with our staff for feedback and consultation at no charge. The PARTS' Mood Screen is a brief measure of depression and anxiety; the Locus Of Control Assessment Scale [LOCAS] is an opportunity for you to review your approach to solving this problem; the Trap Detector will help you identify the traps that have held you back to this point; the final link, Begin the Path, describes some Advanced Cognitive Strategies that you may find helpful in managing the inevitable crises that await you.

PARTS' Mood Screen

Brief self-evaluation: Signs and symptoms of depression & anxiety

LOCAS

How does change come about in your life? How should you approach this problem?

Trap Detector

What is the nature of my addictive trap?

Advanced Cognitive Skills

Skip the self-evaluation for now and go to the next step of the passage

Click here to purchase an audio CD containing Intentional trance formation [hypnosis] audio files in both MP3 and WAV formats, or our complete treatment manual: "The Path of Greatest Advantage," which includes the audio files.

The author of this material is William Dubin, Ph.D. who is a licensed psychologist and has accompanied thousands of individuals through the passage from dependence on external agency to self-determination over the past 30 years.

The safest road to hell is the gradual one - The gentle slope, soft under foot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without sign posts.

- C. S. Lewis