The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity

The majority of individuals who suffer from severe eating disorders also experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic reactions, and/or obsessive-compulsive disorders. Unfortunately, most empirically supported treatments for eating disorders fail to adequately account for such comorbidities. The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity was developed to help practitioners serve individuals who struggle with any type of eating disorder as well as intense emotions like anxiety, sadness, anger, and guilt. This Therapist Guide provides guidance on a unified set of interventions that can address both eating issues and co-occurring emotional disorders using the same set of tools. The guide includes direction for use in both individual and group settings, as well as case studies describing the experiences of patients with a diverse set of symptoms, demographics, and backgrounds. Components of the treatment are intended to help identify and explain how eating and emotional issues interact, to address automatic and core thoughts, to change patterns of behavior, and to develop new flexibility and capacity in areas of life that have been affected. The guide also includes instruction on how to provide unified exposure therapy for co-occurring problems. The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity is based largely on common principles found in existing empirically supported psychological treatments, and has been tested in extensive research summarized in this book.