Brushy Mountain Retreat began in one summer when founder Judith Cabot took over an empty dorm at Connecticuts Johnson Mountain College. There she began telling women that diets dont work. She began a series of intensive one-week workshops introducing women to the fundamentals of a building a long-term weight management program and healthy lifestyle. The first workshops were limited to four participants each. Brushy Mountain Retreat operated as a summer program through its first years, but as its popularity grew by word of mouth, the program evolved, and quickly became year round.