Bulimia Nervosa

Family Based Treatment (FBT)

Family Based Treatment (FBT; commonly known as The Maudsley Model) is currently one of the leading choice of treatment for children and adolescents living with Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. FBT emphasises the involvement of the family system in supporting the young person in overcoming their eating disorder. FBT acknowledges the integral role families can play in overcoming this illness and helping restore their young person back to health. FBT centres on the principle that weight restoration is the first step and the key to bringing physical and mental health back to young people suffering from an eating disorder. The initial focus of treatment is on weight [...]

Tips for the Holiday Season

Whilst Christmas is generally a wonderful time with lots to look forward to, for someone with an eating disorder this time of year can present significant challenges. The holiday season means that many of us get some time off work (thank goodness) bringing us out of our regular routine. Christmas parties galore, family gatherings and meeting your mates at the pub can mean greater opportunities for indulgence, which can be challenging for those in recovery from an eating disorder. As we come into summer in Australia (la Nina, back off), the change in season brings with it new clothing and time spent at the beach, which can [...]

Schema Therapy & Eating Disorders: Part 1

“I understand it – logically I get it - but I just don’t feel like that’s true”. Therapy can be really effective at shifting your head – your beliefs, your logical space, what you agree must technically be true. However, it can be a lot harder to shift your heart – what you feel to be true. Similarly, often we understand what you need to do in therapy, but the how is much more challenging. It takes a lot for someone to really believe that they are important and deserve to care for themselves, which is especially common in people with eating disorders. There is new research [...]

Managing Distress in Eating Disorders

If you have an eating disorder, or know someone who does, you probably know how difficult experiencing an eating disorder can be. Part of what makes an eating disorder so difficult is the experience of distress, which unfortunately is a fundamental aspect of having an eating disorder. This post will explore some ways of managing distress in eating disorders. In many ways, the behaviours that produce an eating disorder, come about as way of avoiding distress related to food, exercise, and weight and shape. To illustrate this point, if someone is very fearful of gaining weight and believes eating particular foods will lead to weight gain, [...]

What to do when the ‘evidence based treatments’ are not successful?

What to do when the ‘evidence based treatments’ are not successful? One of the big questions in the field is what should you do if an evidence based treatment is not successful. If we look at binge eating as a behaviour, and thus covering the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED), then the “treatment of choice” would be Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Yet we know that not all people recover using CBT and some relapse after treatment ends. It has been suggested that an ‘additive’ design, where other therapy protocols are added onto the treatment of choice, may be useful to examine. McIntosh [...]

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