In this post, we look at how Motivational Enhancement Therapy can be applied to a practical situation. More specifically, we’ll discuss how counsellors can utilise this model to assist clients suffering from eating disorders. »
Marnie is a 16 year old girl (an only child) who attends a local private girls school in the city. Marnie is always at the top of her class and her report cards are exemplary. Marnie is actively involved with music, drama and dancing in and out of school all of which she excels at. Over the past couple of years Marnie has taken a much greater interest in her looks and how she dresses. She has star... »
Now that we’ve covered suicide prevention, there are other problems often associated with youth that are a bit more intractable. Eating disorders tend to fall into this category especially amongst adolescent girls. According to Gillis (2000, cited in McMurray, 2003, 147): ‘Adolescents’ images of themselves are embedded in the way they see their own bodies, leading some to excessi... »
The essential features of Bulimia Nervosa are binge eating and inappropriate compensatory methods to prevent weight gain at least twice a week for at least three months. The self-evaluation of people with Bulimia Nervosa is excessively influenced by body shape and weight. A binge is defined as eating in a discrete period of time (usually less than two hours) an amount of food that is significantly... »
MacLeod (1981) states people with anorexia are notoriously difficult persons who are determined to hang on to their symptoms at all costs. This is a common view throughout the medical profession and related fields, possibly due to the ego-syntonic nature of eating disorders – the person is comfortable with the disorder and views it as consistent with their goals and wishes. »
One of the most important advancements in the understanding of eating disorders is the recognition that many of the symptoms once thought to be primary features of anorexia nervosa are actually symptoms of starvation. An experimental study, conducted and published 50 years ago by Ancel Keys and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota (Keys, Brozek, Henschel, Mickelsen & Taylor, 1950) is ... »
Lemberg (1992) also proposes a model of development whereby a person moves from voluntary dieting through a number of stages to reach a fully entrenched eating disorder. »
There are many environmental, cultural, psychological and biological factors which combine in different ways in the development of an eating disorder. These factors can be divided into three factors, as seen below in Figure 1. »
Eating disorders are complex, multifaceted physical and mental health problems. Their development usually involves a number of different contributing and perpetuating factors. The exact processes are unclear and is it uncertain how they interact to develop or maintain an eating disorder (Fairburn & Harrison, 2003). »
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