What she does at WeightWatchers®
Allison is a clinical health psychologist specializing in weight management and eating behaviors. At WW, she works closely with the Customer Experience, Learning & Development, and Brand teams to incorporate behavior change principles into all aspects of the member-facing program. This includes defining WW’s suite of behavior change strategies, developing and executing the WW Behavior Change Coaching approach, and partnering with WW Coaches and trainers worldwide to make its science-backed principles of behavior change accessible to millions of people.
Her background
Before joining WW in 2018, Allison led the creation of the Behavioral Science Approach—a foundational paradigm designed to enhance health behaviors around weight management, nutrition, physical activity, and stress management through in-person and digitally-delivered solutions—at Envolve PeopleCare in Bethesda Maryland. Prior to that, she served as director of clinical psychology at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. From 2016 to 2017, she served as chairperson of the Integrated Health Clinical Issues and Guidelines Committee of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Throughout her career, Allison has provided direct clinical care to more than 3,000 clients and has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals. She also holds specialized clinical training in cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, motivational interviewing, and health coaching.
She completed her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, clinical internship at the James A. Haley Veterans’ hospital in Tampa, Florida, and her postdoctoral fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
What brought her to WW
During her time in academic medical settings, Allison developed tremendous respect for the WW program based on what her patients shared from their experiences. She knew that the company approached weight management and wellness with scientific integrity from nutritional, behavioral, and psychological perspectives. When the opportunity to apply her expertise to a program with global reach arose, she jumped at the chance.
Most exciting part of the job
Allison is especially passionate about ensuring that the WW program recognizes and challenges all forms of weight stigma. And she’s most energized when she walks out of a WW Studio or logs off a virtual Workshop—the community is so powerful!
Get to know Allison:
- In her free time: You might find her teaching! As a certified group fitness instructor, she barely recognizes herself when she’s in front of a class. Who is that energetic extrovert? She also loves cooking and skiing—despite being only moderately skilled at both.
- You might be surprised to learn: She’s attended baseball games at all but two Major League Baseball stadiums—and she’ll be sure to update this once those last two are checked off the list!
- The wellness advice she gives her friends: Create routines around things you genuinely love to do.