Therapist perspectives on individual and group Compassion Focused Therapy for Eating Disorders

Systematic Literature Review:

A systematic literature review explored quantitative papers investigating shame in clinical eating disorder (ED) groups. Following searches of four databases, 30 papers were deemed relevant to the current review and were selected for inclusion. Included studies suggested that shame was significantly correlated with ED symptoms, and that shame was significantly higher in ED groups compared to healthy control groups. Several variables were identified that may affect the relationship between shame and ED symptoms. The results suggested that shame is high in groups diagnosed with an ED but that the variables that affect this relationship have not been fully explored.

Empirical Research Project:

Research into the group Compassion Focused Therapy for Eating Disorders (CFT-E) protocol has found encouraging results (Gale et al., 2014), but little research has been conducted into individual CFT-E. This research aimed to provide the first qualitative investigation of therapists’ understanding of the benefits, challenges and process of individual CFT-E (Part A) and provide a qualitative comparison of the benefits and challenges of group and individual CFT-E (Part B). Participants were therapists who conducted CFT-E in their clinical practice. For Part A, four therapists completed three qualitative interviews per client over the course of individual CFT-E interventions. For Part B, six therapists completed a qualitative interview about the benefits and challenges of individual and group CFT-E. For Part A, the thematic analysis created two major themes: “the therapeutic process of CFT-E” and “working through fears, blocks and resistances in therapy”. For Part B, eight themes were created using thematic analysis which reflected benefits and challenges of group and individual CFT-E. The research described the therapeutic process of individual CFT-E and highlighted the importance of fears, blocks and resistances. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research were discussed.