2014

Matters of Appearance: Eating Disorder Patients’ Interpretations of Therapists’ Bodies

Andrea 11 Comments

Therapeutic alliance is often highlighted in studies looking at treatment effectiveness, both in and beyond the realm of eating disorder therapy. Evidently, there are a number of factors that can impact how well we get along with our therapists, ranging from disagreements with the course of treatment or type of therapy to a simple, unnamable dislike for the person. But what about their appearance? What kind of impact could a therapist’s body size have on the therapy relationship?

Rance, Clarke & Moller (2014) sought out to investigate this issue, looking specifically at how clients evaluate therapists’ body size and speculate on their relationship with food, with an eye to determine what impact this might have on the therapeutic process.

I was immediately drawn to this study when I was browsing the latest literature; I wondered why this hadn’t been studied before. In some ways it seems obvious; we’re … Continue reading →

Enraged by Sounds: Misophonia in Eating Disorder Patients (Clinicians, Listen Up)

Tetyana 19 Comments

Few people would claim to like the sound of chewing, lip smacking, or pen clicking. But while disliking these noises is commonplace, experiencing anxiety, panic and/or rage in response to them–a condition called misophonia (hatred of sound)–is not.

Well, truth be told, we don’t actually know how common it is: Searching “misophonia” in PubMed returns just 14 results. Seven were published in 2013/2014, and only three were published prior to 2010. (Searching “selective sensory sensitivity syndrome,” another name for “misophonia” wasn’t particularly fruitful either.)

Interestingly, the most recent paper on misophonia investigated the phenomenon in eating disorder patients. Timely, I thought, given that a few months ago someone had asked me about this very thing on Tumblr. At the time, I came up with nothing. Now I had something. So I posted it on the SEDs Tumblr. The response was almost immediate (click here to … Continue reading →