Ten‐session cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders: Outcomes from a pragmatic pilot study of Australian non‐underweight clients

Abstract

Background: Ten-session cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT-T) for eating disorders is designed to reduce barriers to treatment, including cost, therapist expertise, and lengthy wait lists. The current study aimed to replicate the first case series, evaluating the effectiveness of CBT-T in a sample of non-underweight clients, delivered by trainee psychologists under expert supervision.Methods: CBT-T was delivered to 26 clients in an outpatient setting. Outcomes included eating disorder cognitions and behaviours, quality of life, and general psychopathology. Analyses adopted a completer and intention-totreat approach to data analysis, using multi-level modelling.Results: Significant improvements were found for the majority of outcomes from baseline to post-treatment and at one-and three-month follow-up. Effect sizes at post-treatment and follow-up from baseline were typically medium to large. Conclusion:Results support the effectiveness of CBT-T as a treatment for non-underweight eating disorder clients. Results were also comparable to longer versions of CBT for eating disorders and to outcomes delivered by experienced therapists. Longer follow-ups and the use of randomised controlled trial designs are required to confirm the efficacy of CBT-T.

Treating bulimia nervosa in the context of gender dysphoria using 10‐session cognitive behavior therapy

“…The reduction in the client's global EDE-Q score (2.5) was comparable to the improvements observed within CBT-T treatment studies (2.6, Pellizzer, Waller, & Wade, 2018;1.97, Waller et al, 2018). The client's EDE-Q subscale scores reduced to below the clinical cut-off at follow-up.…”

A pragmatic effectiveness study of 10‐session cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT‐T) for eating disorders: Targeting barriers to treatment provision

“…There were also improvements in secondary outcomes, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. A subsequent small case series design replicated these findings (Pellizzer, Waller, & Wade, ).…”

“…The overall aim of the current study is to explore the effectiveness of outpatient CBT‐T delivered by trainee psychologists in an Australian sample of transdiagnostic patients with eating disorders. A key step in developing new therapies is establishing replicability (Open Science Collaboration, ), and therefore, replicating the Waller et al () and Pellizzer et al () findings is an important first aim. This is especially important as the majority of prior effectiveness studies of CBT have predominantly used experienced therapists (Byrne et al, ; Knott et al, ; Signorini, Sheffield, Rhodes, Fleming, & Ward, ; Waller et al, ) with few using clinical assistants and inexperienced therapists from varying fields (Rose & Waller, ; Turner et al, ; Waller et al, ).…”

Patients' experiences of brief cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders: A qualitative investigation

“…CBT‐T has strong clinical outcomes, comparable to those from other forms of CBT‐ED (Pellizzer et al, in press; Waller et al, ). This study has shown that patients also experience the therapy positively in terms of outcome and alliance.…”

“…Such a brief therapy has recently been developed in the field of eating disorders, in the form of a 10‐session CBT‐T for non‐underweight patients with eating disorders (Waller et al, ). At half the length of existing recommended versions of CBT for eating disorders (e.g., Fairburn, ; Waller et al, ) and achieving comparable results (Pellizzer, Waller, & Wade, in press; Waller et al, ), CBT‐T has the potential to achieve those improvements in cost and access. However, although CBT‐T results in positive therapeutic alliance scores (Waller et al, ), it remains to be seen how patients experience this new, brief therapy.…”