Psychoanalytic contribution to the understanding and treatment of eating disorders

Disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in patients with eating disorders are associated with difficulties in emotion-regulation, self-functioning and interpersonal relationships. Though concrete eating disorder symptoms need behavioural interventions, psychoanalytic psychotherapy with its reflective focus on emotions, defenses, attachment experiences and relationships can improve self-regulation and interpersonal functioning and thus foster resilience to relapse into eating disorder symptoms in the long term. Innovations such as mentalization based treatment for patients with anorexia or bulimia nervosa need further investigation.