Dialectical behavior therapy adapted for bulimia: A case report

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Abstract
Objective This case report describes the application of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to the treatment of bulimia nervosa in a 20‐session manualized therapy. Method The treatment, based on an affect regulation model of eating disorders, was developed to teach emotion regulation skills to replace eating‐disordered behaviors. The patient, a 36‐year‐old woman, had a long history of binge eating and purging that had not responded to 2 years of counseling. In the 4 weeks before treatment began, she reported 13 objective binges and 21 purging episodes. Results and Discussion Upon initiating DBT, her binge eating and purging rapidly declined. She achieved abstinence by the fifth week of treatment and maintained it through treatment. In the 6 months following treatment, she reported a total of two objective binge episodes and two purge episodes. © 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disorder 30: 101–106, 2001.