Treating orthorexia in eating disorders: Creation and evaluation of a psychotherapeutic program

Objective. - Orthorexia, defined as an obsession with healthy eating, is an emerging phenomenon. More and more researchers are inter-ested in the topic but to date no therapeutic program exists to help those who suffer from this disorder. The aim of this study is to test an intervention program for patients suffering from eating disor-ders who present orthorexic symptoms: the ORTO-ED program.Method. - This program includes five collective psychotherapeutic sessions. Inspired by brief therapies, it is based on an integrative approach. Self-reported questionnaires were used to evaluate the program. Participants (n = 5) completed in test-retest the French Orthorexia Scale (FOS-12), the Body Esteem Scale (BES), the Accep-tance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), and the Clinical Scale of Mediated Therapies (CSMT-16) at the final session.Results. - Quantitative analyses did not objectify significant diffe-rences for the level of orthorexia, body esteem, and psychological flexibility. However, the qualitative analyses showed that the par-ticipants expressed positive feedback about their experience of the program. They felt an improvement; they appropriated the tools properly; and they found the program pleasant and useful.Discussion. - This experimental research can be considered more as a feasibility and acceptability study in an open context than as an evaluation of a psychotherapeutic program in terms of impact. It also raises some methodological limitations (such as the absence of a control group). Furthermore, the content of the program could be improved by other methods (mediatised therapies, cognitive approach, etc.).Conclusion. - This experimental therapeutic program represents a major clinical progress for the treatment of orthorexic symptoms in eating disorders. The ORTO-ED program has produced interes-ting results and can be considered a serious treatment approach for orthorexia.(c) 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.