This book presents the SPEAKS approach, an innovative treatment model for anorexia nervosa that primarily combines aspects of Emotion Focused Therapy and Schema Therapy to target struggles with emotion expressed as a “Lost Emotional Self.”

An important development for eating disorder treatment models over the last decade is the recognition of difficulties with emotions. This book offers a clear rationale for why emotion is critical in the understanding of anorexia, the blocks to emotional experiencing, as well as how this plays out in regard the development and experience of anorexia. Structured around five core phases, the treatment framework equips clinicians with practical tools and core therapy tasks designed to help clients reconnect with their emotions. By empowering individuals to articulate their emotional needs, this guide fosters healthier relationships with food and self, ultimately reducing reliance on maladaptive behaviours associated with anorexia.

Transforming Emotional Pain and Rediscovering the Self in Anorexia Nervosa is an essential resource for helping any clinician working in the eating disorder field guide their clients toward emotional healing and self-acceptance.

Dr Anna Oldershaw is a Clinical Psychologist and Reader in Clinical Psychology at the Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University. She has 20 years of clinical and research experience in the field of eating disorders and has published widely in academic journals and books. Anna is an accredited Emotion Focused Therapist, supervisor and international trainer (isEFT), as well as an accredited Schema Therapist (ISST). Anna is Director of the Emotion Focused Therapy Institute of England at Salomons, an isEFT accredited training institute (www.emotionspeaks.co.uk).

Dr Helen Startup is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience working in the field of eating disorders, both as a clinician and researcher. She is an accredited CBT therapist (BABCP) and a teacher/trainer of Schema Therapy (ISST), and co-directs her own schema therapy training school (www.schematherapyschool.co.uk). She has published widely in academic journals and was co-author of the treatment manual for a NICE recommended anorexia nervosa treatment called MANTRA.

Professor Tony Lavender is a Clinical Psychologist with over 40 years of experience working with a range of client groups and a Professor (Emeritus) at Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University. He was the Programme Director for the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at Salomons for 21 years before taking up roles as Dean and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research). He has published extensively on services and therapies in the areas of psychosis and personality disorder, workforce planning, the history of clinical psychology and more recently anorexia.