Perceptions of the "anorexic voice": A qualitative study of healthcare professionals.

Perceptions of the "anorexic voice": A qualitative study of healthcare professionals. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2019 Aug 01;: Authors: Graham MR, Tierney S, Chisholm A, Fox JRE Abstract People with anorexia nervosa (AN) often report experiencing a highly critical inner voice (AV) focused on their eating, shape and weight. There are promising preliminary findings for its role in the treatment of AN and the support of staff is vital for the AV to be embedded in treatment, but their views remain unknown. The aims of this study were to undertake a qualitative exploration of the perceptions of the AV among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in specialist eating disorder (ED) services. A thematic analysis was applied to interviews with 15 HCPs, including nurses, therapists, psychiatrists, healthcare assistants, psychologists and dietitians. Two overarching themes were identified: - "The AV is a vehicle for increasing compassion" and "It's not a one-size-fits-all." The AV was seen as a means of developing and sustaining compassion, but participants noted that it does not resonate for all clients. All HCPs in this study believed that there was potential benefit in utilising the AV in their work with people with AN, and it is likely that doing so would help to reduce burnout and frustration within clinical teams. PMID: 31368595 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Clin Psychol Psychother Source Type: research