ACT for Eating Disorders

Abstract Existing cognitive and behavioral treatments for eating disorders leave substantial room for improvement, with recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses finding that 40–50 percent of patients with binge-eating disorder and nearly 70 percent of patients with bulimia nervosa remain at least partially symptomatic after a full course of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In an effort to improve outcomes, a growing number of researchers have begun to evaluate the use of mindfulness and acceptance-based behavioral treatments such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for this population. Cross-sectional and longitudinal research supports the theory that ACT processes such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and low-values clarity commonly occur within eating disorder populations, which suggests that treatment approaches that target these processes could be beneficial. Although the research on ACT and ACT-informed treatments for eating disorders remains nascent, preliminary evidence supports the potential efficacy of this treatment approach and suggests that ACT may be facilitating treatment outcomes through its hypothesized mechanisms. This article reviews the existing evidence of ACT and ACT-informed treatments for eating disorders and discusses future directions for research.