Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to Treat Emotional Eating, Binge Eating, and Bulimia

Lucene Wisniewski, PhD, FAED; Clinical Director, The Center for Evidence Based Treatment Ohio & Case Western Reserve University

Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by binge eating without compensatory behaviors and bulimia nervosa (BN), characterized by binge eating with compensatory behaviors, affect approximately 5% of individuals world-wide. Emotional eating, the tendency to eat in response to affect, occurs in BED and BN but in non-eating disordered individuals as well. Dialectical Behavior Therapy is an evidence-based treatment for BED, BN and emotional eating. Unfortunately, many therapists do not have adequate training in this model to be able to effectively offer this treatment. Moreover, outside of large metropolitan centers, access to evidence-based treatments for BED, BN or emotional eating are limited.

The current workshop will present two researched models of using DBT to treat emotional eating, binge eating and bulimia. The first model (Safer, Telch & Chen, 2009) proposes using a 20-week, two-hour outpatient group therapy format for clients with binge eating disorder (BED) or bulimia nervosa (BN). The second model (Safer, Adler & Masson, 2018) proposes the use of a Guided Self Manual which may be offered in person or via teletherapy