Empirical Support for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Eating Disorders

Abstract

(from the chapter) The evidence base for psychodynamic psychotherapy for EDs comes from various sources, reviewed in this chapter. The small number of RCTs and pilot studies of psychodynamic psychotherapy for EDs, taken as a whole, suggest that dynamic therapies-when intended by the researchers to perform as active treatments, rather than as largely inert controls-are at least as efficacious as other forms of outpatient psychotherapy for EDs [17-20]. The field clearly needs additional trials of dynamic therapy performing under optional conditions, such as less-constrained treatment length and adequate latitude to focus on personality issues. Additional evidence is provided from naturalistic research, which documents productive change in community samples treated with psychodynamic psychotherapy [8,14,15,21]. Further evidence is provided from studies of related forms of psychotherapy, in most cases adapted from psychodynamic practice but intended as controls in RCTs for EDs. This group of surprisingly efficacious psychodynamic modifications includes interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and supportive therapy. Finally, the more extensive research supporting the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy for related conditions, such as personality disorders (PDs), interpersonal problems, and motivation and alliance issues, which characterize groups with EDs, lends some additional evidentiary support to its utility for treating EDs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)