| Emotion-focused Therapy (EFT) is a psychological treatment designed to help individuals with psychological disorders enhance their awareness of, experience, learn from, and transform the emotions that contribute to their disorder. Given the problems with emotion awareness and regulation found in eating disorders, the aim of the current study was to develop a group EFT treatment for this population, and to evaluate the feasibility of this approach in an outpatient clinical setting. The treatment was developed during a three-year process that included the integration of relevant literature, training of therapists, and tailoring of treatment based on work with individual clients. After the initial treatment development phase and a preliminary pilot test with women with symptoms of bulimia, the treatment was further refined. A second pilot test (N = 12) was used to evaluate the redesigned treatment. Results indicated that the treatment was effective in reducing behavioural and psychological symptoms of eating disorders, psychological distress, and in improving self-efficacy and emotion regulation abilities. Participant feedback was positive. In particular, they reported valuing their relationship with the group leaders, learning how their emotions connect to their eating disorder symptoms, and in learning new, healthier ways to respond to their emotion experience. The findings from this study support the use of a group EFT treatment protocol with women who binge and purge, and suggest ways that treatment can be further enhanced. |
