Conceptualization and treatment of abuse in eating disorders and obesity using EMDR therapy

Child sexual abuse appears to be one of the risk factors for both obesity and eating disorders, especially in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa. This trauma-based approach appears to be particularly important for women victims of child sexual abuse, who tend to develop poor self-esteem and eating disorders more frequently than men. Opydo-Szymaczek, J.; Jarząbek- Bielecka, G.; Witold Kędzia, Borysewicz-Lewicka, M. (2018). It has been scientifically proven that one-third of abused children suffer from eating disorders in adolescence and even adulthood. According to statistics, 12% of these children suffer from anorexia, 37% from bulimia, and more than 50% from nonspecific eating disorders. Those who suffer from anorexia want to avoid all future sexual contact, provoking rejection and displeasure. Those who suffer from bulimia feel, more than anything else, anger towards the abuser and adopt this attitude with the idea of not being sexually attractive by somatizing through the body and weight. Among the long-term consequences, i.e. more than two years after the child sexual abuse (CSA) has stopped, there is a large number of cases that develop a posteriori food pathologies. Through EMDR therapy, cases of eating disorders with abuse trauma can be conceptualized so as to work with them; they are often the most serious cases due to the trauma they present at their origin.

Conference

English

Natalia Seijo

Seijo, N. (2020, January). Conceptualization and treatment of abuse in eating disorders and obesity using EMDR therapy. Presentation at the 4th EMDR Asia International Conference, Bangkok, Thailand