Are we really delivering evidence-based treatments for eating disorders? How eating-disordered patients describe their experience of cognitive behavioral therapy
Abstract
Psychotherapists report routinely not practising evidence-based treatments. However, there is little research examining the content of therapy from the patient perspective. This study examined the self-reported treatment experiences of individuals who had been told that they had received cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for their eating disorder. One hundred and fifty-seven such sufferers (mean age = 25.69 years) were recruited from self-help organisations. Participants completed an online survey assessing demographics, clinical characteristics, and therapy components. The use of evidence-based CBT techniques varied widely, with core elements for the eating disorders (e.g., weighing and food monitoring) used at well below the optimum level, while a number of unevidenced techniques were reported as being used commonly. Cluster analysis showed that participants received different patterns of intervention under the therapist label of 'CBT', with evidence-based CBT being the least common. Therapist age and patient diagnosis were related to the pattern of intervention delivered. It appears that clinicians are not subscribing to a transdiagnostic approach to the treatment of eating disorders. Patient recollections in this study support the conclusion that evidence-based practice is not routinely undertaken with this client group, even when the therapy offered is described as such.
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Cowdrey, N. D., & Waller, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Waller, Glenn
- ORCID
- Waller, Glenn
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 75
- Pages
- 72-77
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1931148670
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- eating disorders, cognitive behavioral therapy, evidence-based practice, patient experience, intervention fidelity, transdiagnostic approach, food monitoring, self-help organizations
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Female, Health Personnel, Humans, Male, Health Behavior, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Patient Satisfaction, Evidence-Based Medicine, Self Report
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