THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TALKING THERAPIES THAT CAN BE USED TO HELP TREAT ANOREXIA.

THE AIMS OF TALKING THERAPIES ARE TO REDUCE RISKS TO YOUR PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
WELLBEING, ENCOURAGE HEALTHY EATING, AND AID YOUR RECOVERY BY HELPING YOU TO DEVELOP
HEALTHY WAYS OF COPING WITH THE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS BEHIND YOUR EATING DISORDER.

THERAPIES THAT MIGHT FORM PART OF THE TREATMENT FOR ANOREXIA INCLUDE:

▪ Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

▪ Cognitive analytic therapy (CAT)

▪ Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)

▪ Focal psychodynamic therapy (FPT)

▪ Family interventions focused on eating disorders

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)

▪ Cognitive analytic therapy is a kind of therapy that can be recommended for the treatment of anorexia. It
looks at past events that may explain the unhealthy thoughts that cause your anorexia, and helps you to
recognise and find ways to break the unhealthy patterns.

Interpersonal therapy (IPT)

▪ This is a form of therapy that looks at the effect your relationship with others and with the outside world
has on your mental health. It helps you to understand the feelings involved and develop healthy coping
strategies. This can be part of the treatment for all kinds of eating disorders.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

(CBT)
▪ Cognitive behavioural therapy helps you to deal with problems by breaking them down into smaller parts.
It focuses on current problems and how to change negative thought patterns to develop healthy ways of
coping with them. This therapy is often recommended as part of the treatment for all kinds of eating
disorders. It can be adapted to the needs of people with particular illnesses, such as bulimia (CBT-BN) or
binge eating disorder (CBT-BED).

Focal Psychodynamic Therapy

(FPT)
▪ This is a form of therapy based on the idea that mental health conditions may relate to past unresolved
conflicts. The therapy encourages people to think about early events that may have impacted their mental
health and helps them find healthy ways to cope with negative feelings.

Modified Dialectical Behaviour

Therapy (DBT)
▪ This is a kind of therapy that focuses on your ability to control and regulate your emotional responses,
and it can be adapted to help treat binge eating disorder.

Counselling
▪ A type of talking therapy where you can talk about your thoughts and feelings, which aims to help you
overcome emotional issues that you’re struggling with.