Psychological Approaches in the Treatment of Obesity

Abstract

There are a wide range of psychological approaches for addressing issues of obesity from population level to individually responsive interventions; this chapter focuses on clinically based interventions. However, regardless of the type of intervention, a psychological perspective helps us to acknowledge and address the context in which a person experiences their weight, including bias and stigma which has considerable impact on physical and emotional wellbeing. Difficulties with weight do not occur in isolation but are a result of a complex interaction between physiological, psychological and social factors but too often this is over-simplified and results in a narrow focus on behaviour change. This chapter begins with consideration of the role that weight and food can have for individuals in order to understand why changing eating habits is challenging. It also highlights a range and combination of therapeutic models which have been found to be useful in working with obesity.