Eating Disorders
Eating Disorders are typically concerned with weight, body size, and shape coupled with a fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. Eating Disorders typically include symptoms of being preoccupied with food, counting calories, fear of weight gain, binging, purging, starving oneself, or overexercise. Many people will eat food in secret, isolate from others, and become obsessed with negative thinking patterns around low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction.
Diagnosed eating disorders include:
Anorexia Nervosa.
Bulimia Nervosa.
Binge Eating Disorder.
Avoidant Restrict Food Intake Disorder.
Other Specified Feeding and Eating Syndrome.
The philosophy behind Uniquely Human Psychology is that perfectionism is unachievable. Therefore, the main aim of assessment and therapy is to alleviate the person’s distress and symptoms and highlight body diversity and behaviour change to attain desired health outcomes.
The therapeutic approaches provided at Uniquely Human Psychology are all evidence-based.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – Enhanced (CBT-E)
This intervention is suitable for older adolescents (15-19) and adults with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder (BED), Avoidant Restrict Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), Other Specified Feeding and Eating Syndrome (OSFED). When this therapy is applied – therapist’s will try to help individuals change both their eating disorder mindset and unhelpful behaviours.The core theme of CBT-E is based on the understanding that there are common patterns that exist for all types of eating disorders and it is these patterns that continue to maintain an individual’s eating disorder cycle. When necessary, therapy may initially aim to renourish a person through nutrition.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Therapy for Eating Disorders
This approach is suitable for the treatment of food phobias and ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). Anxiety and fears exists with food phobias and ARFID. Avoidance of particular foods may contribute to weight loss or failure to appropriately gain weight and nutritional deficiencies. Psychosocial problems that effect friendships and overall wellbeing for individuals with food phobias and ARFID can lead to withdrawal and depression. When necessary, therapy may initially aim to renourish a person through nutrition.
Maudsley Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults (MANTRA)
This treatment is suitable for older adolescents (15 -19) and adults with Anorexia Nervosa.
MANTRA aims to address the cognitive, emotional, relational and biological factors which tend to maintain Anorexia Nervosa by working out what keeps an individual trapped in their anorexia, and gradually helping them to find more adaptive ways of coping. As each treatment is individually tailored – this can include: developing motivation to change and recover; improving food intake and nutrition; addressing interpersonal difficulties; developing more helpful styles of thinking; learning new ways of managing emotions; and developing a sense of identity that is separate to Anorexia Nervosa.
Family Based Treatment for Adolescents with an Eating Disorder (FBT)
This approach is suitable for children and adolescents (up to the age of 17 and 11 months) with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The Criteria for this program at Uniquely Human Psychology includes:
1) The individual receives a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa and is medically stable for outpatient treatment.
2) Recent onset illness (within the first year). **If the illness onset is over 12 months then a modified CBT-E approach will be utilised.
3) The individual is living in the family home AND parents are willing to attend all treatment sessions
4) Parents are willing to take charge of renourishing the individual in the first phase of treatment. This approach is developmentally driven because the eating disorder interferes with normal development and therefore limits their ability to make appropriate decisions regarding food and eating. Therefore family involvement is essential to treatment outcome.