On the Road to Somewhere: Commentary on Breiner et al., Matheson et al., and Palmer et al.

Abstract

This commentary considers the contribution of three papers (Breiner et al., Matheson et al., and Palmer et al.) that explore very different approaches to the treatment of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). Comparison is made with the development over time of psychological therapies for other eating disorders and how we need to be open to different possible approaches so that we can eventually find our way to the best treatment(s) in the field of ARFID. Following that, summaries of each paper are given, including consideration of their different methodologies, measures, samples, and treatment outcomes. There are also suggestions for future research that expand on the authors' ideas. The literature is clearly still very disparate, as one might expect at this early stage in the development of treatments for the range of ARFID presentations. However, these papers are all valuable pointers as to where the treatment literature on ARFID might be going in the long term.