The role of emotional abuse in the eating disorders: implications for treatment.
This paper addresses the clinical links between emotional abuse and the eating disorders. It is argued that the core feature of a range of abusive experiences is emotional invalidation. Emotional abuse is associated with problems in the development of emotional skills, manifesting as alexithymia, poor distress tolerance, and emotional inhibition. Cognitive-behavioral approaches are outlined for work with eating-disordered patients with a history of emotional abuse. As well as addressing the central concerns about eating, weight, and shape (using existing evidence-based methods), the focus of treatment is on addressing the conditional assumptions about the acceptability of emotions and the core beliefs that underpin the emotional difficulties.
Waller
Glenn
G
Vincent Square Eating Disorder Clinic, Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, UK. glenn.waller@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Corstorphine
Emma
E
Mountford
Victoria
V
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological