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15 - A Cognitive Behavioral Approach to Body Dysmorphic Disorder:

Assessment, Treatment, and New Developments

from Part Three - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Associated Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2022

By
Oliver Sündermann  and
David Veale
Edited by
Gillian Todd  and
Rhena Branch
Gillian Todd
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Rhena Branch
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
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Summary

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The first part of the chapter describes the clinical features and processes of BDD, and introduces an updated CBT model of the self as an aesthetic object that evolves around the notion that people with BDD experience distressing mental imagery of their disliked features, maintained by self-focused attention and safety-seeking behaviors. In the second part of the chapter, we present an updated assessment and treatment protocol to BDD. We use case material to illustrate how to engage clients and socialize them into a psychological way of working to overcome their appearance concerns. We illustrate assessment and formulation, how to set up effective behavioral experiments, how to conduct mirror retraining, imagery rescripting, and compassion-focused techniques. BDD screening and diagnostic measures are also presented.

Keywords

body dysmorphic disorderCBTinhibitory learningTheory A/Theory Bbehavioral experimentsimagery rescripting
Type
Chapter
Information
Evidence-Based Treatment for Anxiety Disorders and Depression
A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Compendium
 , pp. 295 - 315
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Recommended Reading

Phillips, K. A. (2005). The broken mirror: Understanding and treating body dysmorphic disorder. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, K. A. (2017). Body dysmorphic disorder: Advances in research and clinical practice. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sündermann, O., & Veale, D. (2017). Complexity in obsessive-compulsive and body dysmorphic disorder: A functional approach to complex difficulties. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veale, D., & Gilbert, P. (2014). Body dysmorphic disorder: The functional and evolutionary context in phenomenology and a compassionate mind. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3(2), 150–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veale, D., Gilbert, P., Wheatley, J., & Naismith, I. (2014). A new therapeutic community: Development of a compassion-focussed and contextual behavioural environment. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 22(4), 285–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veale, D., & Neziroglu, F. (2010). Body dysmorphic disorder: A treatment manual. John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Veale, D., Willson, R., & Clark, A. (2009). Overcoming body image problems including body dysmorphic disorder. Constable Robinson.Google Scholar
Wilhelm, S., Phillips, K. A., & Steketee, G. (2012). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for body dysmorphic disorder: A treatment manual. Guilford Press.Google Scholar

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