The Integration of a Spiritually Informed Component with Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa: The Clinical Value of a Catholic Approach to Humble Self-Surrender (Humility) and Responsible Love (Temperance)

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a life-threatening disorder with physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual consequences. It is extremely challenging to treat. Recently, however, there have been promising findings regarding the effectiveness of using radically open-dialectical behavior therapy (RO-DBT) to treat AN. To date, there are no specifically Catholic approaches to treating AN. Thus, a culturally sensitive treatment for Catholic adult women with AN is proposed for development, grounded in the Catholic understanding of the human person and RO-DBT, which is an empirically validated treatment. AN is conceptualized as a disorder of overcontrol characterized by potentially addictive behaviors. In striving for self-control, those with AN adopt perfectionistic ideals that, when attained, lead to pride that interferes with their motivation for recovery. In order to develop a Catholic approach to treating AN, spiritual surrender and two components of the virtue of temperance, humility and responsible love, are integrated into the framework of RO-DBT. The lesson on surrender focuses on relinquishing control and the pride associated with perfectionism. Surrender is proposed as an effective tool for developing humility. The lesson on responsible love focuses on helping patients make truly temperate choices regarding food and exercise, first out of duty and then out of true desire to do the will of God. It is hoped that integrating these Catholic concepts with RO-DBT will produce an effective therapeutic intervention that will help patients with AN develop a true understanding of the virtue of temperance, attain freedom from their disorder, and move toward flourishing.