Eating Disorder Approaches
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E)
CBT-E has been well-researched as an effective treatment for eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. The first step in the treatment is to establish regular eating and interruption of behavioural symptoms like restriction, bingeing, and purging through use of healthy coping skills to manage urges. Then, the client and therapist challenge negative thoughts about weight, body image, and food that maintain disordered eating in order to foster healthier beliefs and behaviours. A full course of treatment is 20 sessions long and clients have regular out of session practice assignments to improve their eating, reduce their symptoms, and reinforce skills learned in session.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Arfid (CBT-AR)
CBT-AR is a type of CBT specifically designed to address the symptoms of ARFID including sensory sensitivities, lack of hunger or interest, and anxiety that make eating difficult. Goals of CBT-AR include helping clients achieve a healthy weight, correcting nutritional deficiencies, and encouraging clients to eat a nutritionally diverse range of foods. In this treatment, clients learn about the factors that lead to and maintain ARFID and practice making concrete changes to their eating to increase the volume and variety of their food intake. Clients are in control of what changes they make to their diet. Treatment is 10 sessions long and each session involves out of session practice with making changes to their eating.