United Kingdom psychologists: Study CBT-E Phases 2 & 3 for eating disorders, targeting body image. Advance your skills with these courses.
In this course, UK clinicians explore the second and third phases of CBT-E, the enhanced cognitive behavioural approach to eating disorders. The focus falls on consolidating early progress and then tackling body image, including body checking, avoidance, comparison with others and the distress of feeling fat. Participants learn how over-evaluation of shape and weight maintains the disorder and how interventions such as mirror exposure and cognitive restructuring can help clients broaden their self-evaluation and ease anxiety. It suits psychologists and therapists working with eating disorders, and can be logged as a learning activity in an HCPC CPD record.
This talk offers a focused exploration of Phases 2 and 3 of Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E), with an emphasis on working with body image concerns. These phases are essential for consolidating early progress and targeting the core psychopathology that underpins most eating disorders: the over-evaluation of shape and weight.
In Phase 2, practitioners learn how to review client progress, identify new barriers, and build upon foundational gains. Phase 3 then moves into the emotionally significant domain of body image work—addressing behaviours such as body checking, avoidance, appearance-based comparisons, and the distressing experience of “feeling fat.”
The talk introduces a range of practical strategies, including psychoeducation, behavioural experiments, mirror exposure, and cognitive restructuring. These interventions help clients broaden their self-worth beyond appearance, reduce anxiety, and establish a more compassionate, sustainable relationship with their bodies.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this talk, participants will be able to:
Describe the goals and structure of Phases 2 and 3 in CBT-E.
Identify and respond to common barriers to change that emerge mid-treatment.
Understand the role of over-evaluation of shape and weight in maintaining eating disorders.
Apply body image-focused interventions such as mirror exposure and cognitive restructuring.
Support clients in expanding their self-evaluation system and reducing appearance-based distress.