Compassion-focused therapy in patients with eating disorders: A pilot study

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) has been developed as a multimodal therapy that integrates different cognitive-behavioral strategies and has begun to be applied in the field of eating disorders recently. The aim of this work has been to develop and apply an intervention program based on CFT in a group of patients with eating disorders. The sample consisted of 10 participants diagnosed with an eating disorder. The mean age was 20.2 years (SD=8.06). The following instruments were applied: measures of self-pity, mindfulness, attitudes toward food, depression, anxiety, body image and self-esteem. The results showed a significant change in self-pity, attitudes toward food, body image and self-esteem. These results support the application of CFT to these patients.