Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective means of treatment for substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions and their associated behaviors to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. Though it was originally designed to treat depression, its uses have been expanded to include many issues and the treatment of many mental health conditions, including anxiety, substance use disorders, marital problems, ADHD, and eating disorders. CBT includes a number of cognitive or behavioral psychotherapies that treat defined psychopathologies using evidence-based techniques and strategies.
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's physical or mental health. Types of eating disorders include binge eating disorder, where the patient eats a large amount in a short period of time; anorexia nervosa, where the person has an intense fear of gaining weight and restricts food or overexercises to manage this fear; bulimia nervosa, where individuals eat a large quantity (binging) then try to rid themselves of the food (purging); pica, where the patient eats non-food items; rumination syndrome, where the patient regurgitates undigested or minimally digested food; avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), where people have a reduced or selective food intake due to some psychological reasons; and a group of other specified feeding or eating disorders. Anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse are common among people with eating disorders. These disorders do not include obesity. People often experience comorbidity between an eating disorder and OCD. It is estimated 20–60% of patients with an ED have a history of OCD.
Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. This activity aims to expel the body of calories eaten from the binging phase of the process. Binge eating refers to eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time. Purging refers to the attempts to get rid of the food consumed. This may be done by vomiting or taking laxatives.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, or the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa.
Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is a common symptom of eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive quantity of food. A diagnosis of binge eating is associated with feelings of loss of control. Binge eating disorder is also linked with being overweight and obesity.
Cognitive restructuring (CR) is a psychotherapeutic process of learning to identify and dispute irrational or maladaptive thoughts known as cognitive distortions, such as all-or-nothing thinking (splitting), magical thinking, overgeneralization, magnification, and emotional reasoning, which are commonly associated with many mental health disorders. CR employs many strategies, such as Socratic questioning, thought recording, and guided imagery, and is used in many types of therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). A number of studies demonstrate considerable efficacy in using CR-based therapies.
Cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) is a form of psychological therapy initially developed in the United Kingdom by Anthony Ryle. This time-limited therapy was developed in the context of the UK's National Health Service with the aim of providing effective and affordable psychological treatment which could be realistically provided in a resource constrained public health system. It is distinctive due to its intensive use of reformulation, its integration of cognitive and analytic practice and its collaborative nature, involving the patient very actively in their treatment.
Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy to treat anxiety disorders.
The Eating Attitudes Test, created by David Garner, is a widely used 26-item, standardized self-reported questionnaire of symptoms and concerns characteristic of eating disorders. The EAT is useful in assessing "eating disorder risk" in high school, college and other special risk samples such as athletes. EAT has been extremely effective in screening for anorexia nervosa in many populations.
Maudsley family therapy also known as family-based treatment or Maudsley approach, is a family therapy for the treatment of anorexia nervosa devised by Christopher Dare and colleagues at the Maudsley Hospital in London. A comparison of family to individual therapy was conducted with eighty anorexia patients. The study showed family therapy to be the more effective approach in patients under 18 and within 3 years of the onset of their illness. Subsequent research confirmed the efficacy of family-based treatment for teens with anorexia nervosa. Family-based treatment has been adapted for bulimia nervosa and showed promising results in a randomized controlled trial comparing it to supportive individual therapy.
Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin.
Cognitive remediation is designed to improve neurocognitive abilities such as attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility and planning, and executive functioning which leads to improved psychosocial functioning.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is derived from both the cognitive and behavioral schools of psychology and focuses on the alteration of thoughts and actions with the goal of treating various disorders. The cognitive behavioral treatment of eating disorders emphasizes on the minimization of negative thoughts about body image and the act of eating, and attempts to alter negative and harmful behaviors that are involved in and perpetuate eating disorders. It also encourages the ability to tolerate negative thoughts and feelings as well as the ability to think about food and body perception in a multi-dimensional way. The emphasis is not only placed on altering cognition, but also on tangible practices like making goals and being rewarded for meeting those goals. CBT is a "time-limited and focused approach" which means that it is important for the patients of this type of therapy to have particular issues that they want to address when they begin treatment. CBT has also proven to be one of the most effective treatments for eating disorders.
Cognitive emotional behavioral therapy (CEBT) is an extended version of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aimed at helping individuals to evaluate the basis of their emotional distress and thus reduce the need for associated dysfunctional coping behaviors. This psychotherapeutic intervention draws on a range of models and techniques including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness meditation, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and experiential exercises.
Christopher James Alfred Granville Fairburn is a British psychiatrist and researcher. He is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. He is known for his research on the development, evaluation and dissemination of psychological treatments, especially for eating disorders.
Janet Deborah Carter is a New Zealand clinical psychology academic who became a full professor and dean of science at the University of Canterbury in 2016. She was appointed acting Pro Vice Chancellor of Science for 2019–2020, and acting Executive Dean of Science from mid 2021.
Paul E. Garfinkel is a Canadian psychiatrist, researcher and an academic leader. He is a professor at the University of Toronto and a staff psychiatrist at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Body image disturbance (BID) is a common symptom in patients with eating disorders and is characterized by an altered perception of one's own body.
Body checking is a compulsive behaviour related but not exclusive to various forms of body dysmorphic disorders. It involves frequently collecting various information about one’s own body in terms of size, shape, appearance or weight. Frequent expressions of this form of behaviour entails for example mirror checking, trying to feel one’s own bones, pinching the abdomen, frequent body weight measurement and comparing your own body to that of others. Studies have shown that an increased rate of body checking correlates with an overall increased dissatisfaction with the own body.
Stephan Zipfel is a German professor for psychosomatic medicine at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. He is currently Chair and Head of Department of Internal Medicine VI at the University Medical Hospital in Tübingen and Vice Dean of the Medical Faculty. He specializes in eating disorders and is the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Eating Disorders (KOMET) at the University Hospital.
