About Structure House
Dr. Gerard J. Musante, founder of Structure House
The Structure House story begins in 1977 when Dr. Gerard J. Musante, a clinical psychologist, began his distinguished career working with overweight patients in a hospital-based program. He observed that patients who lost weight while in the medical environment usually regained it when they returned to their unstructured lives at home. Realizing that overeating is fueled by much more than appetite alone, Dr. Musante made a groundbreaking discovery. He understood that the individual’s unique relationship with food® must be addressed to achieve long-term success.
This insight led him to integrate the principles of nutrition, exercise and psychology in a treatment approach designed to transform the eating habits and lifestyles of overweight individuals. Dr. Musante named the revolutionary program “Structure House” to underscore his belief that people with serious weight problems could benefit from increased structure in their lives. In 2007, Structure House celebrated its 30th year of helping people from all over the world win their battle with weight loss.
Dr. Musante is the author of The Structure House Weight Loss Plan. The book acts as a guide to lifelong weight management and explains how to handle difficult situations like restaurant eating, managing social eating situations, cooking healthy meals at home, and eating better while traveling. Dr. Musante presents sensible strategies and tools to permanently maintain a healthy weight.
The Structure House Philosophy
At Structure House, we know that achieving both short- and long-term weight management goals requires people to change the way they think about nutrition, exercise, and the role food plays in their lives.
Unlike typical programs that focus solely on the physical factors related to weight loss, we place an emphasis on providing clients with the support and structure they need to make comprehensive changes in the following four key areas:
- Behavior – As part of our Clinical Program, our specially trained therapists help clients uncover the emotional roots of their eating problem and find effective ways to deal with the triggers that cause overeating.
- Nutrition – We provide clients with delicious nutritious meals, and teach them how to incorporate healthy nutrition into their daily lives.
- Exercise – At Structure House, exercise is not just about sweat and exertion. Our activity program helps clients recapture the feelings of lightness, energy, and strength that are natural to the human body.
- Medical Support – Our professionals have extensive experience in areas of high risk medical management associated with excessive weight.
At Structure House, clients begin to think of themselves as students of change. Our classes, workshops, individual meetings, and group outings help our students learn to incorporate structure into their daily life and apply new strategies to the world around them.
In short, our education-based programs and therapeutic principles are based on a philosophy of helping men and women learn how to change the way they think, act, react, feel and live.
Finally, as a proud member of CRC Health Group, we also embrace CRC’s five core values:
Respect – for our patients, our employees, and our community
Integrity – in our dealings with all those whose lives we touch
Accountability – to our patients and their families, and to our colleagues
Responsibility – for the decisions we make and the actions we take
Excellence – in every task we perform
