The Guided Self-Help intervention is an effective treatment for people with Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa.

The guided self-help sessions follow the framework set out in the book ‘Overcoming Binge Eating: The Proven Program to Learn Why You Binge and How You Can Stop’, Second Edition, by Dr Christopher Fairburn.

The service currently offers this as a group program, consisting of 11 sessions of a duration of one and a half hour each. Typically, groups will be between 6-8 people and will be run by two group facilitators.

On the occasions where the group is not appropriate, this approach may be offered on a 1:1 basis.

This intervention is currently being facilitated online, via the Microsoft Teams audio visual platform.

LEAP is an effective treatment for people with an eating disorder, who exercise compulsively.

LEAP focuses on educating people on healthy/non-compulsive exercise and equipping them with the skills to regain control over their exercise behaviour.

At the moment, this is facilitated as a 1:1 intervention. LEAP consists of an initial orientation session and 7 one-hour treatment sessions.

Contemplation sessions focus on understanding the functions of your eating problems, the barriers to change and the advantages and disadvantages of change.

This intervention is currently provided both in a group setting as well as in a 1:1 setting and involves 7-8 therapy sessions of 1 hour each.

A psychological formulation is a joint effort between you and your therapist to build an understanding of your current eating difficulties and to make links between various factors in your life that may be maintaining this difficulty as well as acknowledge the impact of past experiences in the development of your eating problem. Formulation work also acknowledges your strengths and resources.

Psychological formulation work would take approximately 4 sessions, 1 hour each, however these can be extended depending on need.

Creating a psychological formulation of your eating problem with your therapist helps them and the wider team they work within to work out what type of treatment or support would be most suitable for you.

CBT-E is one of the most effective treatments for eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and other similar states​.

This treatment focuses primarily on the present and future, specifically on addressing and modifying the factors that maintain someone’s eating disorder. It addresses the origins of the eating problem as needed.

CBT-E involves approximately 20-40 50-minute sessions. The number of sessions needed depends on whether a period of weight restoration is required as the initial part of treatment.

CBT-E isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” treatment, meaning that the treatment will be tailored to your specific eating problem and your needs. You and your therapist will create a specific version of CBT-E to match the exact eating problem you are experiencing and understand what is keeping it going.

CBT-T is an effective evidence-based treatment for people with non-underweight eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa, atypical anorexia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and others.

CBT-T is strongly focused on the here-and-now and addresses the factors maintaining your eating disorder.

CBT-T starts with 4 sessions, which can be extended to a maximum of 10 sessions. Sessions will only be extended if there have been lots of clear changes in the first 4 sessions. This is because early change is our best predictor of recovery from an eating disorder.

If you are not able to make changes in the first 4 sessions, then this might not be the right time for you to engage in therapy. It would be best to stop therapy at this point and return to it when you feel ready.

MANTRA is a treatment especially developed to help adults with anorexia nervosa. It can be especially helpful to people with rigid thinking styles, those who hold positive beliefs about anorexia and/or feel ambivalent about recovery, and for those who live without a support network or within a support network that may not always respond in a helpful way towards the person’s struggles.

This treatment aims to help you understand and address the different factors in your life that tend to maintain your eating problem.

MANTRA consists of nine core modules which are covered over 20-30 sessions of 1 hour each. You and your therapist will discuss which factors and modules are most relevant to you and your eating problem and create a personalised version of the treatment.

Occupational Therapists can provide support to adults whose eating disorder is preventing them from doing the everyday activities that matter to them.

Our key role when working with these individuals is to identify goals that can help them sustain, regain, or improve their independence.

To achieve these goals, we support them with transferable skills and strategies to shop for, prepare and eat foods that they have been avoiding due to their eating disorder, focusing on identified strengths to overcome their fears.

We also enable them to develop competence and confidence in other areas of their lives such as progressing with their career or expanding leisure interests. This serves to reduce the focus and importance a person places on their shape and weight.

We provide support to enable the person to function well at home, preventing their relapse and promoting their wellbeing and quality of life.

SSCM involves talking to a therapist who will help you understand your eating disorder, and the problems it’s causing and how you may be able to make changes. This covers information around nutrition and how your eating habits may be contributing to your symptoms.

You will usually be offered around 20 sessions on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Together with your therapist will set you a target weight and, over the course of the 20 weeks, you and your therapist will work together to help you achieve this and any other goals you together set for your treatment.

In order to support your recovery, it is likely that changes will need to be made to your eating patterns and diet. The team is able to offer support and guidance about meal plans, portion guidelines and nutrition.

Regular blood tests would also be required by your GP or in High-Risk Clinic to monitor for re-feeding. If appropriate, you would be invited to link with your clinician via the Recovery Record App.

Our specialist dietician is also available to see individuals where required.

As part of the treatments we offer, we are also in the process of setting up a specialist pathway for young people called FREED. FREED is a national framework that has been developed by the South London and Maudsley Hospital in London.

Freed is an innovative, evidence based, specialist care package for 16 to 25-year-olds with a first episode eating disorder of less than 3 years duration. FREED overcomes barriers to early treatment and recovery and provides highly coordinated early care, with a central focus on reducing the duration of an untreated eating disorder.

It consists of a service model and a care package. FREED is important because eating disorders typically develop in adolescence and early adulthood, when the brain is still developing.

Eating disorders cause brain changes that negatively affect chances of recovery. The longer someone has an eating disorder the harder it is for them to change.

If you are age 25 and under, we would contact you quickly normally via telephone to discuss your referral and symptoms and help you think around your needs and arrange further assessment where appropriate.

Most people with eating disorders present with other mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, OCD and other psychiatric disorders.

If these conditions are interfering with your treatment or require attention and this is best offered within our specialist eating disorder team, one of our doctors may see you to discuss whether prescription of medication may be beneficial.

In this case, advice will be given to you and your GP will be asked to issue a prescription.

Sometimes, despite receiving appropriate treatment, some people struggle to make progress and require a different type of support.

In these cases, we may offer a treatment review with one of our senior practitioners and your allocated key worker which may lead to stopping the treatment if this is not the right time for you, a change in your treatment or exploration of alternative treatment settings such as day programme or inpatient care.