Dr. Gupta is a licensed psychologist and professor at Barnard College, Columbia University. She specializes in the treatment of anxiety and eating/weight issues at 
Can group therapy help reduce binge eating years after therapy ends?
February 1, 2012
Many people have begun to seek out psychotherapy to help reduce their binge eating. While certain forms of therapy have been shown to help them lose weight and reduce binging, one of the biggest challenges they face is relapsing. Can the effects of thearpy help people reduce binge eating episodes and maintain weight loss years later? In a study released online last week, researchers investigated the long-term effects of group therapy for binge eating disorder.
The current study is considered a follow-up study as the original treatment was described several years ago. In the original treatment study, 162 people with binge eating disorder participated in 20 weeks of group therapy. They were randomly assigned to either cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). A few months after treatment ended, most people in both forms of group therapy reported decreased binge eating and weight loss.
So were they able to maintain improvements 4 years later? The current study gathered information on 90 of the original participants. Researchers found that about 65% of the participants demonstrated “full recovery” from binge eating disorder. Additionally, most participants were able to maintain a stable weight in the years after group therapy ended, which the study authors note is a major obesity prevention priority.
Overall, the study shows that group CBT and group IPT can be helpful for people suffering from binge eating, even years after completing therapy. However, the study examined mostly Caucasian females despite recent research showing binge eating effects people across racial-ethnic groups. In addition, there was no control group so it’s hard to know how group CBT/IPT compare to other types of group therapy for binge eating.
Given that individual CBT, which is the current treatment of choice for binge eating, may be too expensive for some people, group CBT and group IPT may be a good, cost-effecitive option.
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