This is the first book to present a roadmap for tailoring acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to the serious, complex challenges of anorexia nervosa (AN). Leading authorities describe interventions grounded in ACT core processes--Defusion, Acceptance, Attention to the Present Moment, Self-Awareness, Values, and Committed Action. Guidance is provided for conducting functional assessments with adolescents and adults and working toward individualized treatment goals, starting with weight restoration. The book also discusses ways to engage parents and other family members in treatment. It features therapist scripts, sample dialogues, case examples, and reproducible forms and handouts. The large-size format facilitates photocopying; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

A Process-Focused Guide to Treating Eating Disorders with ACT At some point in clinical practice, most therapists will encounter a client suffering with an eating disorder, but many are uncertain of how to treat these issues. Because eating disorders are rooted in secrecy and reinforced by our culture's dangerous obsession with thinness, sufferers are likely to experience significant health complications before they receive the help they need. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Eating Disorders presents a thorough conceptual foundation along with a complete protocol therapists can use to target the rigidity and perfectionism at the core of most eating disorders. Using this protocol, therapists can help clients overcome anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and other types of disordered eating. This professional guide offers a review of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a theoretical orientation and presents case conceptualizations that illuminate the ACT process. Then, it provides session-by-session guidance for training and tracking present-moment focus, cognitive defusion, experiential acceptance, transcendent self-awareness, chosen values, and committed action-the six behavioral components that underlie ACT and allow clients to radically change their relationship to food and to their bodies. Both clinicians who already use ACT in their practices and those who have no prior familiarity with this revolutionary approach will find this resource essential to the effective assessment and treatment of all types of eating disorders.

If you are an ACT practitioner or mental health professional, this eagerly awaited resource is an essential addition to your professional library. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapy that has been successful in treating a variety of psychological issues, such anxiety, depression, substance abuse, trauma, eating disorders, and more. In contrast to other treatment options, ACT has proven extremely effective in helping clients who are “stuck” in unhealthy thought patterns by encouraging them align their values with their thoughts and actions. However, the ACT model is complex, and it’s not always easy to use. Traditionally, ACT is delivered with a focus around six core processes that are often referred to as the hexaflex: cognitive defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, observing the self, values, and committed action. Each of these core processes serves a specific function, but they are often made more complex than needed in both theory and in practice. So what if there was a way to simplify ACT in your sessions with clients? Edited by clinical psychologists and popular ACT workshop leaders Kevin L. Polk and Benjamin Schoendorff, The ACT Matrix fuses the six core principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) into a simplified, easy-to-apply approach that focuses on client actions and behavior as workable or unworkable, rather than good or bad. Most importantly, you’ll learn how this innovative approach can be used to deliver ACT more effectively in a variety of settings and contexts, even when clients are resistant or unmotivated to participate. This is the first book to utilize the ACT Matrix model, and it is a must-read for any ACT practitioner looking to streamline his or her therapeutic approach.

Two leading experts in eating disorders offer a comprehensive, evidence-based, and fully customizable program, Integrative Modalities Therapy (IMT), for treating adolescents with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating. If you treat adolescents with eating disorders, you need a flexible treatment plan that can be tailored to your patient’s individual needs, and which fully incorporates the adolescent’s family or caregivers. This book offers a holistic approach to recovery that can be used in inpatient or outpatient settings, with individuals and with groups. The groundbreaking and integrative program, Integrative Modalities Therapy (IMT), outlined in this professional guide draws on several evidence-based therapies, including Maudsley family-based treatment (FBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), compassion-focused therapy (CFT), exposure therapy, and appetite awareness training. This fully customizable approach meets the patient where they are—emotionally and cognitively—throughout the process of recovery. This book covers all aspects of the recovery process, including navigating family issues, meal planning, and more. Handouts and downloads are also included that provide solid interventions for clinicians and checklists for family members.

Disordered eating, negative body image, and problems with weight have become an epidemic—and research shows that traditional treatments are not always effective. This professional resource offers proven-effective interventions using mindfulness and acceptance for treating clients with disordered eating, body image, or weight issues—and for whom other treatments have failed. Millions of people in the United States suffer from eating disorders, and dissatisfaction with weight and body type—even in individuals whose weight is considered normal—is similarly widespread. In addition, more than half of Americans could benefit from healthy weight loss. Unfortunately, not all people with eating disorders or weight concerns respond to traditional therapeutic interventions; many continue to suffer significant symptoms even after treatment. What these clients need is an integrated therapeutic approach that will prove effective in the long run—like the scientifically backed methods in this much-needed clinical guide. Edited by Ann F. Haynos, Jason Lillis, Evan M. Forman, and Meghan L. Butryn; and with contributors including Kay Segal, Debra Safer, and Hugo Alberts; Mindfulness and Acceptance for Treating Eating Disorders and Weight Concerns is the first professional resource to incorporate a variety of proven-effective acceptance- and mindfulness-based approaches—such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)—into the treatment of persistent disordered eating, body image issues, and weight problems. With these evidence-based interventions, you’ll be ready to help your clients move beyond their problems with disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, and weight management once and for all.

Now in its second edition, this established text provides the practical information needed to treat patients with anorexia nervosa and related eating disorders. It is suitable for all health care professionals involved in eating disorder management, with special information provided for general practitioners, nurses, family carers and nutritionists.

For five decades, negative body image has been a major focus of study due to its association with psychological and social morbidity, including eating disorders. However, more recently the body image construct has broadened to include positive ways of living in the body, enabling greater understanding of embodied well-being, as well as protective factors and interventions to guide the prevention and treatment of eating disorders. Handbook of Positive Body Image and Embodiment is the first comprehensive, research-based resource to address the breadth of innovative theoretical concepts and related practices concerning positive ways of living in the body, including positive body image and embodiment. Presenting 37 chapters by world-renowned experts in body image and eating behaviors, this state-of-the-art collection delineates constructs of positive body image and embodiment, as well as social environments (such as families, peers, schools, media, and the Internet) and therapeutic processes that can enhance them. Constructs examined include positive embodiment, body appreciation, body functionality, body image flexibility, broad conceptualization of beauty, intuitive eating, and attuned sexuality. Also discussed are protective factors, such as environments that promote body acceptance, personal safety, diversity, and activism, and a resistant stance towards objectification, media images, and restrictive feminine ideals. The handbook also explores how therapeutic interventions (including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Dissonance, and many more) and public health and policy initiatives can inform scholarly, clinical, and prevention-based work in the field of eating disorders.