Eating disorders are extremely difficult for individuals to experience. And difficult for therapists to help with! They affect both mental and physical health and can even become life-threatening. So how can therapists help individuals of all ages struggling with eating disorders?
Eating disorder behaviors are often resistant to treatment due to powerful short-term effects they provide the individual. These behaviors may promote stress reduction, emotional regulation, a sense of autonomy over oneself and one’s choices, relationship maintenance, and more.
Eating restriction in anorexia nervosa and purging behaviors in anorexia and bulimia nervosa often serve these functions. Yup, purging can occur in both disorders (the key difference is that those with anorexia end up losing weight). Binge eating or other behaviors also provide extremely strong short-term payoffs. Because of these powerful functions, eating disorder behaviors can be very resistant to change despite serious health consequences.
Eating disorder treatment— whether inpatient or outpatient— addresses both physical and mental health needs. Depending on severity, treatment includes many steps among many different types of providers. For instance, medical stabilization with subsequent mental health therapy and social services.
Eating disorders are usually comorbid with a range of other diagnoses, which adds more complexity to treatment. Therefore, therapists, specialized medical doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, nursing, and other care staff all play a role.
So how do therapists help in their role? Research finds specialized forms of CBT are particularly effective for eating disorders. Among other things, CBT helps clients build tools for coping with many emotions. It also addresses perfectionistic thinking, beliefs about the effectiveness of eating disorder behaviors to effectively regulate emotion, and beliefs of oneself that may have been programmed in learning history.
Effective family based therapy approaches address maladaptive family dynamics that contribute to eating disorders. Studies show that family expectations around perfectionism and high achievement are linked to eating disorder development. This often includes expressions of catastrophe for not reaching high performance benchmarks.
The Cognitive Behavior Institute has a comprehensive upcoming training that includes these approaches. It also provides attendees with a range of assessment skills and theoretical understanding of factors that cause and maintain eating disorders. Altogether, the workshop seems to provide a full toolbox of therapist resources to help those who struggle with eating disorders.
There are such powerful short term functions that keep eating disorder behavior going, even when it so dangerous for people’s health. Therapists use important resources to play a key role in helping those with eating disorders.
