A study of teenagers with bulimia found that incorporating family therapy with practical goal setting worked better than individual therapy that focused on the teen's feelings.

Bulimia is an eating disorder in which an individual binges - or eats large amounts of food - and then purges the food through forced vomiting, excessive exercise, or the use of laxatives.

Researchers at the University of Chicago divided 80 bulimics between the ages of 12 and 19 into two groups:

• The first group had family therapy and a practical approach that involved teaching the teens to set goals and avoid purging. The teens, their parents, and their siblings participated in 20 sessions with trained therapists.
• The second group of teens met individually with therapists to discuss their feelings and to find reasons for their behaviors.

After six months, four out of ten members of the family therapy group had stopped bingeing and purging, compared to only two members of the individual therapy group.

The National Institute of Health funded this study, which appeared in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Labels: family, therapy

Posted By: Aspen Education Group