Clinical Social Work
Focusing on Emotion: An Evidence Based Trans-Diagnostic Approach to Treating Eating Disorders by Jackie Uveges, LSW & Nancy Graham, LCSW
“A transdiagnostic approach is ideal in the treatment of eating disorders as it can target not only the eating disorder symptoms, but also emotional dysregulation, intolerance, and experiential avoidance common with comorbidities such as depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
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ndividuals who struggle with eating d i s o rd e r s o f t e n h a v e d i f fi c u l t y e x p re s s i n g , p ro c e s s i n g , re g u l a t i n g, a n d t o l e r a t i n g strong or uncomfortable emotions and d i s t r e s s i n g e x p e r i e n c e s . T h e R e n f re w C e n t e r ’s U n i fi e d Tre a t m e n t M o d e l f o r E a t i n g D i s o r d e r s a n d C o m o r b i d i t y ( U T ) 1, a t r a n s - d i a g n o s t i c approach, allows patients to accept, manage, a n d c o m mu n i c a t e t h e i r f e e l i n g s i n a m o r e adaptive manner without engaging in emotion avoidance. E a t i n g d i s o rd e r s a re c o m p l i c a t e d a n d p o t e n t i a l l y d e v a s t a t i n g p s yc h i a t r i c i l l n e s s e s c a u s e d by a c o m p l e x c o m b i n a t i o n o f f a c t o r s , i n c l u d i n g g e n e t i c , b i o c h e m i c a l , p s yc h o l o g i c a l ,
c u l t u r a l , a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l . Ac c o r d i n g t o We d i g a n d No c k , “ E a t i n g a n d w e i g h t r e l a t e d concerns are defensive methods of directing attention to external problems and goals and to compensate for feelings of helplessness, i n s i g n i fi c a n c e , a n d v u l n e r a b i l i t y. ” 2 T h e R e n f r e w C e n t e r ’s e v i d e n c e d - b a s e d U n i f i e d Tr e a t m e n t M o d e l a d d r e s s e s n o t o n l y a n i n d i v i d u a l ’s e a t i n g d i s o r d e r, b u t o t h e r comorbidities through a careful integration o f c o g n i t i v e b e h a v i o r a l t h e r a py, m i n d f u l n e s s , r e l a t i o n a l - c u l t u r a l t h e r a py, a n d e x p o s u r e t h e r a py. A transdiagnostic approach is ideal in the treatment of eating disorders as it can target
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