CBT for BED: An Overview

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for binge-eating disorder (BED) integrates the strategies and procedures from both enanched CBT (CBT-E) for eating disorders and personalized CBT for obesity. Unlike treatments based on the “disease model”, which address the patient’s illness (e.g., BED), CBT for BED is based on the “psychological model”; it targets, in a personalized and flexible way, specific cognitive-behavioural processes that maintain binge-eating episodes and excessive and dysregulated eating and, in some patients, clinical obesity. The treatment, delivered in three steps, is collaborative, adaptable, and highly personalized. The therapist and patient work together as a team (collaborative empiricism), and the patient is encouraged to participate actively in the treatment process and to make treatment a priority. CBT for BED is an individual treatment, but, with the patient’s prior consent, significant others can be involved in creating an optimal environment for change and helping the patient to implement some of the treatment procedures.