Therapy for Bulimia

An overview of bulimia therapies

Currently, there are several standard treatments being utilized as therapy for bulimia, which includes the following:

• medication or prescription drug therapy
• non-drug therapies (see below)
• nutritional therapy
• psychotherapy

Medication and psychotherapy are the most common of the bunch and are typically delivered during various in-patient or out-patient levels of care and in different settings. This depends on the severity of the disorder and the specific treatment program that was customized for the specific individual. Additionally, there are non-drug therapies known as adjunct or supportive interventions such as art, massage, movement therapy, and Yoga.

Medication or prescription drug therapy

One of the two most common therapies used to treat the disorder is medication or prescription drug therapy for bulimia. Anxiety, depression, or OCD oftentimes accompany bulimia so the primary medications that are administered are anti-depressants. Although a number of anti-depressants have been used as medication therapy for bulimia, only Fluoxetine has an indicator on the label for treating the disorder. The intent of treating the three disorders above is to reduce or eliminate the person’s urge for binging and purging.

Psychotherapy

There are several types of psychotherapy that are employed in group and individual settings as well as with families. Behavioral therapy (BT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are the primary ones that are used and have been for many years now. CBT is broken down into three overlapping phases as follows:

1. Focusing on helping the individual to resist the urge to binge and purge by educating them about the dangers of the disorder
2. Introducing procedures that increase the individual’s eating regularities and the reduction of dietary restraint
3. Teaching the individual relapse prevention techniques to help avoid setbacks in their recovery and progress

A course of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for bulimia is normally comprised of 16 to 20 hours of counseling sessions that take up to 5 months to complete.

Let Harmony Grove help you with your eating disorder

If you or a loved one is in need of therapy for bulimia, let the staff professionals at our facility provide you with further information and answer any questions you may have regarding our eating disorder treatment programs. You can reach us by calling the toll-free phone number above in the upper right corner of this page. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can.