Telephone counselling—the EDA approach

✍ Scribed by Philippa Hugo; Philip Segwick; Alison Black; Hubert Lacey

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 78 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1072-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0968(199908)7:4<300::aid-erv279>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

In 1989 the Eating Disorders Association established a telephone counselling programme for clients with bulimia nervosa. This programme is described in detail. Results of the counselling, conducted over a 2-year period, on 26 patients, are reported. Results show a signi®cant reduction in binge-eating, vomiting and laxative abuse. Those remaining bulimic differed signi®cantly from those recovered in that they had a longer history of illness. Patients rated telephone counselling more highly than face-to-face counselling in terms of convenience, anonymity and con®dentiality. The majority felt trust would be enhanced with personal contact. It would appear that a structured telephone counselling programme for patients with bulimia nervosa may offer a viable, effective to conventional counselling. This may provide one answer to the treatment of these patients in areas where services are lacking.