Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Great resource in identifying a complex disorder and ways of solving

I read this mostly for personal interest with a side of being able to earn CEU’s for my license that is renewing in Sept. My personal interest comes from suspecting my daughter has ARFID, or at least would benefit from ARFID-like treatment. This was a FANTASTIC resource both for my role as her mother (that also happens to be an RD), and my role as an RD with my patients struggling with binge eating. Binge eating is a common comorbidity with ARFID so I am very grateful to have more tools and education on the topic for my clients. Overall, a really great resource to earn 11 CEU’s. Very happy with this choice.

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!

Fantastic groundbreaking.

I really despaired at getting my ARFID under control. The traditional ED clinics were of little help. With this book, I'm finally making progress. I have all three subtypes of ARFID. Won't lie, this is hard work, and I'm still far from "normal" eating, but I've made great strides in expanding the variety and volume of nutrients I can stomach. Still working on enjoying the food, but at least I'm not constantly faint with hunger. I have energy to do things, instead of constantly sleeping. It can get better!