Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Bulimia Nervosa: Is It Better than other Treatments and Who Does It Work for?

Evidence has shown cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to be an efficacious treatment for patients with bulimia nervosa (Wilson, Fairburn, Agras, Walsh, & Kraemer, 2002). Although CBT is an evidenced-based treatment, there are still many issues that remain unanswered. One issue that remains is whether CBT is more effective than other psychotherapies or drug therapies for the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN). Another issue is the limitations of researchers' understanding of the mechanisms through which CBT works and the patient characteristics that are compatible with this form of treatment. This paper will: 1) briefly explain how CBT conceptualizes BN and give a rough outline of the treatment plan; 2) present studies that investigate CBT in comparison to other treatments and studies that examine patient characteristics that may mediate the outcome of CBT on BN; 3) provide an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these studies and; 4) express the author's opinion of the clinical application of CBT for patients with bulimia nervosa when considering the individual differences of the patients.