CBT-AN-20

                                                                                                       

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents & Adults (CBT-AN-20)

Description

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders is a NICE-recommended intervention for adults who can be treated as outpatients. However, at 40 sessions, it is very resource-intensive, slowing the capacity of clinicians to intervene promptly, particularly with recent-onset cases. Building on the example of CBT-T, which showed that brief therapies for non-underweight patients can be treated effectively in far less time, we have developed a 20-session protocol for treating such cases (BMI>15). This new protocol (CBT-AN-20) is supported by preliminary evidence as being equally effective and acceptable compared with longer CBT protocols for such cases. It is supported by skills videos and resources for clinicians to use. 

This workshop will detail the CBT-AN-20 protocol (Waller, Eddy, Rose, Thomas & Turner, 2026) and demonstrate key skills that are required to deliver it effectively. Those skills include meta-competences that apply across therapies and competences that are specific to CBT-AN-20. Compared to other protocols for anorexia nervosa, there is more focus on: exposure-based methods; early start to changes in eating; working with the ‘anorexic voice’ to enhance motivation; balancing exposure and behavioral experiments to teach the patient that weight gain is both achievable and controllable; addressing traits and emotional factors that underpin compulsivity, in the context of past experience; and a wide range of patient-specific methods to address body image. The workshop will also consider adaptations for adolescents, those with atypical anorexia nervosa, and others. 

This training (over two sessions of four hours each) will briefly address the rationale and evidence for CBT-AN-20, and the meta-competences that support effective therapy. The remainder of the training sessions will detail the phases of CBT-AN-20, and how we adapt to the individual’s needs (e.g., neurodivergence; trauma-based emotional states). We stress the use of the wide range of CBT techniques, particularly as found in the wider range of anxiety-based disorders. Phases focus on core techniques such as exposure and nutritional stability, behavioral experiments, addressing emotionally driven behaviors, body image work, and ending therapy appropriately. Case material and video role plays will be used throughout to illustrate how to deliver CBT-AN-20. 

Participants will learn: 

  • Knowledge of the principles and evidence for CBT-AN-20. 
  • Awareness of the competences and meta-competences that underpin CBT-AN-20. 
  • Ability to deliver CBT-AN-20 effectively and flexibly in routine clinical settings. 

Date/Time
The course is an 8-hour didactic training taking place over two days, in person at The World Forum, The Hague, The Netherlands. 
June 2, 12pm - 4pm CET & June 3, 7:30 - 11:30am CET. 

*This didactic training is geared towards live participation and will not be recorded, nor will there be a virtual option.

An important note about registration: This training is being offered as an optional pre-conference session at AED's annual conference, ICED 2026.
If you are attending the conference, you may purchase a ticket to this session with your conference registration.
If you are not attending the conference, please click the "Register Now" button on the page linked below. On the next page, you will enter your name & email address, and then select the "Training & Certificate ONLY" option from the drop-down menu. This will allow you to register for the training without registering for the conference.  

REGISTER HERE

About OUR COURSE PRESENTERS

Glenn Waller is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Warwick, UK. His clinical and academic specialism is evidence-based CBT for eating disorders, with a particular emphasis on effective treatment in routine clinical settings. He has published over 370 peer-reviewed papers, 27 book chapters and six books in the field. He was an author on the CBT-T manual (2019), which resulted in the team being awarded the Academy for Eating Disorders Outstanding Clinician Award in 2020. He regularly presents workshops at national and international meetings. He is past president of the Academy for Eating Disorders and of the Eating Disorders Research Society and is on the editorial boards of a number of journals relating to eating disorders and to CBT. He was a member of the NICE Eating Disorders Guideline Development Group, responsible for the 2017 update.

Course Pricing

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3
Member $399 $219 $75
Non-Member $499 $279 $90
Student/ Post-Bac Member $199 $99 $40
Student/Post-Bac Non-Member $299 $149 $60

ADD-ON OPTION: Participate in the DBT Learning Collaborative (Registration Limited) 

Following the didactic course, our course presenter will host a 12-session DBT Learning Collaborative (meeting every other week for 6 months). Learning Collaborative participants will have the opportunity to receive consultation on ongoing clinical cases and to ask questions of the presenters and other attendees. To deepen their learning, Learning Collaborative participants will submit brief consultation reports to the Learning Collaborative team, including an update on therapy adherence, patient progress, and future treatment plan. The Learning Collaborative is a special opportunity for licensed professionals from any country who have a clear plan for putting CBT into immediate practice. Certificates of completion will be issued at the conclusion of the Learning Collaborative for those who attend >80% of the sessions and participate actively with case presentations. 

Audience
Licensed professionals from any country who have a clear plan for putting CBT into immediate practice.

Prerequisites
To ensure all learners start on the same page, attending the didactic workshop is a pre-requisite for participation. AED learning collaboratives are considered educational consultation and explicitly not supervision.  Our consultants provide educational opinions on cases. Clinician’s institutions do the billing and use their own (or their institution’s) malpractice insurance.  Thus, all participants in the learning collaborative must be licensed clinicians with active malpractice insurance. Unlicensed trainee therapists will be considered on a case-by-case basis if the trainee is working under the license and malpractice insurance of an outside supervisor who accepts liability for the trainee’s cases.

Date/Time
12 sessions, meeting time to be determined.

Application Process
To preserve the individual attention provided in the Learning Collaborative, attendance will be limited to 12 participants each. Applications will be reviewed and those eligible to participate in the course will be sent information to register on a first-come, first-served basis.


APPLY HERE

Learning collaborative add-on Pricing

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3
Member $399 $219 $75
Non-Member $499 $279 $90
Student/ Post-Bac Member $199 $99 $40
Student/Post-Bac Non-Member $299 $149 $60