New treatment to support people with Anorexia
26 Feb 2025
A new treatment for people with Anorexia could improve recovery rates for those diagnosed with the serious eating disorder.
In Kent and Medway, referrals to eating disorder services have more than doubled in recent years, rising from 870 in 2018-19 to 1,997 in 2022-23, highlighting the growing demand for effective treatments.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend psychotherapeutic or talking therapy interventions as the treatment of choice for adults with Anorexia Nervosa, but existing therapies often have limited success, with high drop-out rates.
A new research study, co-developed by Dr Anna Oldershaw, Reader in Clinical Psychology, has been published in the European Eating Disorders Review Specialist Psychotherapy with Emotion for Anorexia in Kent and Sussex (SPEAKS) and aims to enhance outcomes for adults diagnosed with Anorexia nervosa, anxiety and depression.
The research has been developed through several research phases—including theoretical exploration, lived experience, intervention development, and feasibility testing. The SPEAKS feasibility trial delivered 40 weekly sessions of individual psychotherapy primarily drawing on Emotion-Focused Therapy and Schema Therapy. Preliminary results of the feasibility trial indicate that participants experienced significant reductions in eating disorder thoughts and behaviours, as well as in depression, anxiety, and stress, with ratings improving from the severe range to mild levels by the end of the study.
SPEAKS is now offered in Kent and Medway to those who have not improved after NICE-compliant treatments. Following its success in the feasibility study, a larger randomized control trial is now being considered.
Dr Anna Oldershaw, spoke on the importance of the treatment.
It’s all about choice as no one treatment works for everyone. Having a range of options gives people hope, especially for those who’ve been struggling for a long time. This new approach offers a glimmer of hope for many who have not responded to traditional treatments and reinforces the importance of providing diverse, accessible support for individuals living with anorexia. This treatment focuses on emotion. It considers difficulties with emotional experience and avoiding feeling emotions to be critical in the understanding of how Anorexia develops and why it can be hard to recover from.Dr Anna Oldershaw Reader in Clinical Psychology
Anna has also been leading training workshops for clinicians across Europe who wish to implement SPEAKS, and a new guidebook for clinicians will be published next month highlighting the evidence-based theory and outlining the SPEAKS treatment in practice.
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).