Description
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a common eating disorder diagnosis that describes children and adults who cannot meet their nutritional needs, typically because of sensory sensitivity, fear of adverse consequences and/or apparent lack of interest in eating or food. This book is the first of its kind to offer a specialist treatment, specifically for ARFID.
Developed, refined and studied in response to this urgent clinical need, this book outlines a specialiZed cognitive-behavioral treatment: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (CBT-AR). This treatment is designed for patients across all age groups, supported by real-life case examples and tools to allow clinicians to apply this new treatment in their own clinical settings.
With few, if any, RCT studies on the treatment of ARFID to date, this is a helpful empirically-based step-by-step treatment manual for mental health providers targeting weight gain/restoration and increasing variety in the food the individual eats. It uses a variety of exposure techniques (systematic desensitization, interoceptive exposure, graded exposure), psychoeducation, and parent-/self-monitoring. A previous clinician complained that it is written for dietitians and MDs while not addressing psychological problems. Coming from an FBT background, I disagree. The treatment addresses underlying mechanism from a CBT perspective and I love that it includes a therapeutic meal and in-session exposures to feared/disliked foods. It is far different from the days past when therapists treated eating disorders as a symptom of an underlying control issue or hidden psychological injury/need/drive and relied on the MD/dietitian to discuss what they should be eating. Of course, eating disorder treatment should be a team effort. If you are a an adult or parent of a child with ARFID considering this book, I strongly suggest that you find a therapist trained in CBT-AR (adults and youth) or FBT-ARFID (youth treatment) There are too many scary medical complications that can come with eating disorders and it’s very difficult to treat on your own. This book might give adults/parents some insight into their or their child’s ARFID, but it’s NOT written for parents and especially not written for teens/kids to read. Best wishes to all who struggle with ARFID and the providers trying to help them!
I use this book as a therapist. Very helpful and informative,
A very informative and practical book. Many good ideas on how to (and how not to) proceed with a child with this type of eating disorder. There is so little information out there right now, but this is a useful resource for family members.
This book is great. As a parent of a child with ARFID this has taught me a lot! Definitely recommend!
Wish it had provider recommendations for clinicians with experience treating ARFID in children.