Eating disorder is considered an illness. It adversely affects a person’s relationship with food and body image. One of the prevalent symptoms of eating disorder is that a person with the disorder is occupied with excessive thoughts of food, his body shape or weight, and thoughts related to consumption of food.
Below are mentioned some statistics that shows eating disorder as a serios concern:
- Eating disorders affect about 30 million people in the United States. (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders).
- Eating disorders are classified as the third most common chronic illness among adolescent females in the United States. (International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 2007).
- One out of ten million men in the U. S. will develop an eating disorder in his lifetime.
- The lifetime prevalence of eating disorders is highest among those with a binge eating disorder (5. 5% compared to 2% for Bulimia and 1. 2% for anorexia).
Here are some general symptoms to observe regarding eating disorder:
- Concern with food, weight control, and shape
- Alterations in the type or frequency of the food consumed
- Avoiding social situations which include taking meals
- Mood swings and irritability
- Some of the symptomatic manifestations included fatigue, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Here, we are going to throw light on types of therapy or therapy for individual counseling eating disorders in detail. Also, you can analyze better what therapy is best for eating disorders:
Types of Therapy for Eating Disorders
Let’s delve into the details of types of therapy for eating disorders in detail below:
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT as a therapy for eating disorders, is an evidence-based form of psychotherapy. It works by identifying and changing negative behavior and thought patterns. In terms of treatment of eating disorders, CBT addresses distorted beliefs related to food, body image, and self-worth.
What are the techniques used in CBT?
a. Cognitive Restructuring
It starts with identifying distorted thoughts related to food, body image, and self-esteem. Such thoughts are then replaced with balanced perspectives.
b. Behavioral Experiments
In this technique as a therapy for eating disorders, the validity of distorted thoughts is tested, by conducting certain activities. Also, the individuals are encouraged to adopt normal eating patterns, and monitor the outcomes, simultaneously.
c. Exposure Therapy
At this stage, the individual is exposed to feared eating situations, but in a controlled manner.
d. Self- Monitoring
Here, it comes to keeping detailed records of eating habits, thoughts, and feelings. Also, it includes identifying triggers related to disordered eating habits.
e. Problem-Solving Skills
This technique includes developing strategies to tackle difficult situations and emotions.
f. Relapse Prevention
Here, potential triggers are identified for relapse, to build resilience and maintain progress over time.
Overall, CBT is effective in treating types of therapy for eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, etc.
Also Read: Is CBT Effective for Self-Esteem? Explore the Impact
2. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
This therapy for eating disorders is a combination of CBT and mindfulness practices. These two strategies facilitate self-acceptance, in that people can admit their weaknesses and accept the current state as they seek change. Psychotherapy is normally conducted either in a one-on-one format with clients or in groups and it often utilizes time-tabled and skill-oriented online therapy sessions.
What are the techniques used in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?
DBT uses several primary procedures and components for treating those with eating disorders. These techniques include:
a. Mindfulness
To educate people to accept thoughts, emotions, and actions, and their presence in the current reality without any negative evaluation.
Assisting the clients to maintain a non-discriminatory approach towards food and their body figure.
b. Distress Tolerance
Supporting skills concerning the management and, respectively, acceptance of the adverse feelings and experiences instead of using compulsive eating.
Hence the various self-help practices include self-comforting, focusing on a different activity, or making the circumstances better.
c. Emotion Regulation
This is all about assisting people in how they ought to feel and how they need to deal with all those emotions, as a part of therapy for eating disorders.
They include processes such as developing an emotional vocabulary and emotions’ categorization, protection from negative affect, and positive affect enhancement.
d. Interpersonal Effectiveness
Enhancing interpersonal communication and relationships to solve conflicts and learn how to have constructive relationships.
They include assertiveness training, setting limits, and putting in place healthy supportive relationships.
e. Behavioral Chain Analysis
Describing the process of identifying the causality in chains of events and stimuli related to disordered eating patterns.
Finding out what areas of the patient’s lifestyle they can be guided to change for healthier options.
f. Validation
Involves accepting the client’s emotions and events they are going through.
Striving for validation while striving for change to gain people’s trust and work for their benefit.
3. Nutritional Counseling in the Treatment
Dietary consultation forms one part of the management of eating disorders. It is centered around providing guidance to patients to adopt proper eating habits and the essential nutrients that the human body requires. The key roles of nutritional counseling include:
What are the techniques used in Nutritional Counseling Therapy?
Nutritional online Counseling services or therapy for eating disorders uses several primary procedures and components. These techniques include:
a. Role of Nutritional Counseling in Treatment
Education on Nutrition
Giving out relevant facts to the public and consumers regarding feeding and the human body requirements.
Education and debiasing of common food misconceptions and their relationships with diet and body weight.
Restoring the regular eating habits
Supporting people to reintroduce normal and healthy diet patterns, as a part of therapy for eating disorders.
Supporting the client in the struggle against the phenomenon of fear foods and creating a healthy meal plan.
Addressing Malnutrition
Diagnosing and managing the effects of the specified eating patterns on nutrition status.
Supplementation of nutrients that are required for the proper running of the body processes.
Enhancing Body Image
Being able to assist clients to comprehend the relevance of nutrition on the body and its functions.
Forcing a healthy and realistic image of their bodies through diets.
Preventing Relapse
Helping the target group acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain a proper diet in the future.
Course selection to identify strategies to avoid falling back into the escalations of disordered eating patterns.
b. Collaboration with Therapists
Management of eating disorders is quite a challenge this usually takes the help of various specialists. Therapists as part of online therapy for eating disorders, are always in touch with nutritionists since they form part and parcel of the client’s care team. Key aspects of this collaboration include:
Integrated Treatment Plans
Counselling with other therapists in the management of the clients’ psychological problems and the diet they should take.
The specific objective of working with this population is to make sure the dietary recommendations fall in line with the person’s therapeutic pursuits.
Regular Communication
Ensure that the client therapists’ relationship is kept open, and the client’s progress is kept under check.
Addressing Psychological Barriers
Going through the process of psychoeducation with therapists in order to discover and resolve psychological factors that interfere with the adoption of appropriate eating behaviors.
Holistic Care
Here, the general ideas of nutrition education are to be served hand in hand with psychological consultation due to the multifactorial nature of eating disorders.
c. Creating a Balanced Eating Plan
Meal planning is the approach of developing a healthy eating plan that addresses the body’s nutritional needs and choices of foods to prioritize, to attain optimum nutrition.
One of the most crucial elements of nutritional intervention in eating disorders is the creation of the balanced eating plan. The process involves:
Individualized Assessment
Evaluating and optimizing the food intake pattern that the individual has, his/her nutrition status and health wise goals.
Setting Realistic Goals
Identifying realistic and quantifiable: High and low objectives and targets.
Make sure that the goals that are set meet the client and specific needs of the client at that given time.
Meal Planning
Designing several composed meal calendars that allow for the subsequent intake of regular meals throughout the day.
This option will entail adding foods, varieties of these foods and drinks to the list to ensure the essential nutrients are included and to avoid repetition.
Addressing Fear Foods
Implementing a structured method of gradually exposing the patient to the previously avoided foods.
Guiding the clients to change and combat negative attitudes towards specific foods.
Portion Guidance
Informing the clients of the correct portion size that they should take for their nutritional requirements without feeling full.
Promoting the use of more constructive eating habits in order to enable the clients to recognize their body appetite and satiation signals.
