Text Box: Eating Disorders Text Box: One in five women is likely to suffer from an eating disorder, anorexia (bulimia or binge eating) during her lifetime, and it is estimated that up to 80% of women suffer from a sub-clinical eating disorder. A sub-clinical eating disorder does not threaten life, but is a persistent form of eating disorder which limits women’s lives and their potential. Sub-clinical eating disorders including yo-yo dieting and obsessions with food and/or exercise. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of eating disorders. Problems with eating are intimately related to problems in managing feelings, and the thoughts related to those feelings. A therapist can help a patient learn how to manage (regulate) feelings, so that actions such as binge eating or restricting are less compelling. Better self-understanding is very important in bringing about change, as self-understanding provides room for improved thinking in the face of upsetting feelings. Feelings about one’s self image or body image can be so intense that people experience real confusion about how they look. These feelings can also lead to the obsessive-compulsive behaviors so common in eating disorders. Many patients with eating disorders also suffer from depression and anxiety, and can feel isolated and bored, even in the midst of friends and relatives. Psychotherapy can help the patient understand better what is contributing to these intense, distressing feelings. The relationship with the therapist is a very important part of treating eating disorders. Difficulties experienced with self or others come to the surface in therapy, and can be worked through in the relationship with the therapist. Therapists are trained to listen in a particular way. The therapist’s role is less to give “advice” than to provide a reflection of what she hears the patient saying, in order to stimulate the patient’s own reflection about what is happening internally, and between the patient other people. Family therapy also has an important role. It teaches loved ones about disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, helps parents to learn more effective parenting skills, enables family members to understand their relationships and offers emotional support. In addition, family therapy helps the patient develop a sense of individuality that is crucial to a healthy self-image. Treatment of eating disorders often involves clinicians from different health disciplines including psychotherapists, physicians, nutritionists and psychiatrists.