Lg. Castonguay et al., THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN GROUP COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR BINGE-EATING DISORDER - WHEN THINGS HAVE TO FEEL WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER, Psychotherapy research, 8(2), 1998, pp. 225-238
The goal of this study was to investigate the client's emotional exper
ience in group cognitive-behavioral therapy for binge eating disorder
(BED). Sixty-five individuals meeting the DSM-IV criteria for BED comp
leted a 12-week manualized treatment conducted by experienced therapis
ts. As predicted, the client's emotional experience was characterized
by both positive and negative emotions. Also as expected, the experien
ce of negative emotions was most prevalent in the middle phase of ther
apy. The client's emotional experience also discriminated between trea
tment responders and nonresponders. As predicted, the results suggest
that the prevalence of positive feelings (e.g., hope, relief) and perc
eption of positive group climates (e.g., stimulating, affectionate) wa
s related to client change. The findings also suggest that the lack of
negative feelings (e.g., worried, upset) in the beginning of treatmen
t and, paradoxically, the perception of negative group climates (e.g.,
depressed, discouraged, inhibited, tense) in the middle of therapy wa
s associated with positive treatment response.