Reworking the Myth of Personal Incompetence: Group Psychotherapy for Bulimia Nervosa - Psychotherapy for Bulimia Nervosa

Written by Judith Asner

Several weeks after this confrontation, Nancy began behaving in an appropriate adult manner. Her speech became direct and forceful. She reported a decrease in the desire to binge and purge. Clearly this dramatic encounter was enabled by the group's ability to symbolically reconstitute the family-of-origin and rework the original trauma.

It may take years for each person to learn to share her deepest feelings and years for the core personality to change. For the eating-disordered patient whose trust has been compromised, group psychotherapy provides many opportunities to renegotiate this basic issue. As a result of this ruptured trust, the patient's life stance is basically one of pessimism and impending doom. Among the beliefs that color her world view is the conviction that she is not allowed to feel good, that she does not deserve happiness, that she is intrinsically bad.

In being nurtured and reciprocally being able to nurture others, the patient becomes allied with her own sense of competence and the competence of others. The constant reassurance of personal acceptance at last allows her to begin to reach out authentically to others. The axiom that the best way to help oneself is to help another is lived in the group. The goal of treatment for bulimia is not that the patient never binge and purge again. The goal of treatment for bulimia is that the patient feel like a complete person, profoundly connected to other human beings.

REFERENCES

• White RW. The Abnormal Personality. 3rd Ed. New York, NY. Ronald Press Co; 1964.
• Johnson C, Conners ME. The Etiolo;gy and Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa. New York, NY: Basic Books Inc; 1987:29-30
• Hendren RL, Atkins DM, Sumner CR, Barber JK. Model for the group treatment of eating disorders. Int. J. Group Psychother. 1987; 37:589-601.
• Yalom ID. The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Basic Books Inc; 1985.
• Roth DM Ross DR long term cognitive interpersonal group therapy for eating disorders Int J Group Psychother. 1988; 38: 491-509

Ms. Asner is Director, The Eating Disorders Foundation, Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Address reprint requests to Judith Asner, MSW, BCD, The Eating Disorders Foundation, The Barlow Building Suite 1435, 5454 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

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