What is the WLR Mentor Service?

The WLR Mentor Service offers one-to-one counselling for people who find it hard to lose weight over a sustained period of time.

Counselling is provided in a weekly telephone session with your assigned, specially trained, mentor.

The service is based on the proven counselling technique Motivational Interviewing (MI).

Who is the Service For?

• People who struggle to keep their motivation going
• People who want personal guidance on where to start and how to keep going
• People who are susceptible to emotional eating that can knock them off track
• People who want to break a cycle of yo-yo dieting
• WLR members who live in the UK

Who Are the Mentors?

Supervisor of the service and our lead trainer is registered dietitian Judith Carpenter, who is also one of the foremost MI Trainers in the UK and a former director of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

Our mentors have been through a rigorous selection process, and have been professionally trained in MI and the fundamentals of sustainable weight loss.

What Does the Service Entail?

Each week your Mentor will call you at your chosen time. Your first session will be for 20-30 minutes, followed by 3 shorter, weekly sessions of 10-15 minutes each. This four-week cycle of one long and 3 shorter sessions continues until you feel ready to go it alone.

You will also have your personal mentor space within WLR where you can exchange private messages with your mentor in between your sessions, and access materials associated with your programme.

How Much Does it Cost?

We’ve done our best to make this service as accessible and affordable as possible, so our £27 per month fee is excellent value - available to WLR members only. If you are not currently a member of Weight Loss Resources and you would like to use the service, you will need to sign up to WLR, the Mentor Service is additional to the subscription for the site and will need to be paid for seperately. You can view the standard Weight Loss Resources subscription options here.

How Long Does it Last?

That’s up to you - perhaps depending on how much weight you want to lose and how helpful you are finding the mentor service.

We recommend an initial minimum of 12 weeks in order for you to get the most out of the experience, but the service is charged monthly - so you can cancel at any time and no further monthly charges will be made.

What is Motivational Interviewing (MI)?

MI is a collaborative counselling style, which is used to help people make positive lifestyle changes. It is often used in situations where people need to change their habits with regard to health, food, alcohol or drug use.

Confidentiality & Quality of Service Provision

WLR Mentors adhere to a strict, contractual client confidentiality code of conduct.

This means that calls with your mentor are confidential, and mentors will not disclose anything about your call other than to his or her supervisors at Weight Loss Resources.

The call with your mentor may be recorded as part of the systematic quality control of this service. Neither your name, nor any other identifying details will be attached to this recording. Any recording will only be listened to by the Mentor Service Supervisor, Mentors, or authorised senior managers employed by Weight Loss Resources.

How Do I Access the Service?

You can access the service once you are a full member of Weight Loss Resources. If we have Mentors available now you can sign up straight away and we will assign you a mentor.

If there is no current availability your registration will be entered into a queue. When further capacity becomes available we will reserve a place for you and notify you by email. The place will be reserved for you for 3 days, so you’ll need to sign up within this period if you want to take it up.

Do I Need to be a WLR Member?

At the moment, yes, the Mentor Service has limited availability and is only available to WLR members who live in the UK.

What Happens When I Sign Up?

During the signup process you’ll be asked to complete a short questionnaire, and give us an idea of the times that may be convenient for you to have your first session so we can allocate a suitable mentor. You'll then be able to access your mentor area and make your first appointment on your Mentor’s online calendar.

You'll want to make sure that you can be in a quiet, private space for your mentor sessions. Your mentor will be in a private, closed room during your sessions.