How Can CBT Effectively Help With Weight Management?

How Can CBT Effectively Help With Weight Management? Insights from Harley Street psychologist, Dr Vanessa Ruspoli Introduction Many people feel unhappy with their bodies, which can lead to complex psychological issues. Tackling weight loss related psychological issues is more likely to have positive, long term results if it is approached from a cognitive behavioural standpoint using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is a common therapy that has been proven to help with self-‐esteem, body image and weight management. Self Esteem • then creates rules for living that allows them to avoid situations that trigger difficult aspects of that self-‐ appraisal. CBT can be effective for low self-‐esteem, which stems from negative self-‐appraisal and a person • enhancing self-‐acceptance and reducing self-‐criticism. CBT re-‐evaluates a person’s rules for living through cognitive techniques and works on • challenging it or developing skills of communication so the person with low self-‐esteem can better express themselves and assert their rights and preferences. Behavioural experiments vary depending on the issue, but often involve talking about the issue, Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361

Body Image • effective is addressing and adjusting a person’s body image with improvements being maintained over significant periods of time. Body image is the attitude and perception a person has in relation to their body, and CBT is • and exercises that are elaborated upon in therapy. Worksheets are also used that consider cognitive and behavioural elements. It uses a variety of cognitive and behavioural techniques, often involving homework, using books • and assign homework tasks to encourage a client to think about what like about their appearance, or notice positive things they have done in a week that made them feel good about themselves. Therapists may ask their clients to challenge their core beliefs associated with their body image, Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361

Weight Management • bringing awareness to behaviours that lead to weight problems. It teaches new skills and tests beliefs, giving clients the tools for learning new behaviours that are more conducive to good weight management. CBT works by challenging unhealthy ideas and beliefs that support problems with weight, • and there are a variety of skills that might be associated with all of these interrelated issues such as emotional expression and mood regulation. Some modalities like enhanced CBT targets external factors that can be associated with weight, • the client to acknowledge other personal and interpersonal needs that the weight issues might have been masking. It can help the client to become positively aware of their body and achieve goals in a realistic and attainable way. CBT helps identify emotions and teaches clients to express them in a healthy way. It also teaches Dr Vanessa Ruspoli is a chartered counseling psychologist offering therapy for a range of conditions and issues, including self esteem, depression, stress and anxiety in London. She has worked with cognitive behavioral therapy for a number of years at her Harley Street psychology practice in Central London’s prestigious, historic medical district. Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361

How Can CBT Effectively Help With Weight Management?