Preparing for Eating Disorders Treatment Through Compassionate Letter-Writing

Enrolling by invitation · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, Compassion

In brief

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) seeks to lower shame and help people develop compassion for personal distress and shortcomings. There is increasing evidence to support the benefits of incorporating CFT-based interventions into the treatment of eating disorders (EDs). Building on the investigators' prior research, this study will examine the effects of a two-week CFT-based self-compassion letter-writing intervention on patients with eating disorders. Participants will be recruited from the wait-list of patients scheduled to begin treatment at the outpatient St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Eating Disorders Program, and will be randomly assigned to the two-week letter-writing intervention or to a control group. Results will inform the integration of new empirically-derived interventions into ED treatments to improve the currently dismal rates of ED recovery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04174703

Run by

University of Waterloo

People needed

160

Starts

2020-09-29

Expected to finish

2026-12-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-01-28

Who can join

Age: 17 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• DSM-5 diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder
• Eligible to start group eating disorders treatment at St. Joseph's Eating Disorder Program
• 17 years of age or older
• Exclusion Criteria: None

Where it is running

• St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton — Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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