CBT-E is recognised by NICE as a clinically proven and effective intervention to help people gain control over their eating and to have a less destructive relationship with food.
The route to recovery from eating disorders is challenging but achievable – what it takes is courage and patience on your part and an investment in a process that can take typically 20-40 sessions. As this will represent a significant financial and emotional investment on your part it is essential to point out these important considerations first:
Developing a safe and trusting relationship with your therapist is absolutely key to your success and in the first instance it would be worth having a few sessions initially to see if you can feel comfortable with the therapist you have chosen.
The initial sessions will also help you decide if this is a good time in your life to be taking on such a journey. It is important that other aspects of your life are relatively settled first - clinical experience has taught me that relationship breakdowns and other significant life change events such as a job changes can lead to set backs in the process albeit that they can also provide useful material for future proofing.
When selecting a therapist to help you overcome an eating disorder it is important to ensure they have training, experience and expertise in this quite specialised area of therapy. Fairburn's CBT-E is respected as a clinically effective model – is the therapy you are being offered clinically proven to be effective?
Cognitive behavioural therapy for eating disorders CBT-E will help you understand the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and help you recognise the factors that lead to disordered eating. It will help you identify and develop alternative coping strategies and help you recognise how you came to use food to manage emotions. Therapy will help you understand and address the emotional pain that drives the eating disorder.
The reality is that there is no such thing as comfort eating: it's "discomfort eating", when food is used to take away emotional pain. Therapy can help you gain more control and help you live a happier life.
If you are in South Wales
For other parts of the UK counselling directory.org will help you find a therapist near your postcode – but remember to ask the therapist how much experience they have of dealing with this issue and how confident they are of being able to help you.
Recommended Reading
- Overcoming Binge Eating
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Practical approaches to recognising and breaking dysfunctional use of food and dyscomfort eating.