The Weight-Inclusive CBT Workbook for Eating Disorders: Tools to Reject Diet Culture, Heal Body Shame, and Promote Recovery

A workbook for all eating disorders and all body sizes.

If you have an eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating, or emotional eating, you may also struggle with negative body image that’s made worse by diet culture, television, magazines, movies, and social media. And, despite popular belief, not all people who struggle with eating disorders are tiny or thin. Eating disorders can affect people of all genders, ethnicities, and ages—as well as all shapes and sizes. That’s why you need a weight-inclusive approach—one that prioritizes your mental and physical health without perpetuating weight stigma.

Written by three clinical psychologists who specialize in eating disorders, this workbook offers a powerful new approach grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) called CBT-Weight Inclusive (CBT-WI), to help you heal from body shame, reject diet culture, and find lasting recovery. As you work through the book, you will never be asked to weigh yourself, compute your BMI, or restrict your eating. Instead, you will discover insights to help you better understand your eating disorder, and find proven-effective tools and strategies to cultivate radical body acceptance.

This weight-inclusive workbook will help you:

• Listen to and trust your body’s cues around eating
• Overcome purging, excessive exercising, and counting calories
• Appreciate your body
• Tolerate distressing feelings and sensations
• Understand weight stigma and stand up to diet culture
• Advocate for size-inclusive healthcare
• Set boundaries with friends and family
• Prevent relapse

If you’re searching for a weight-inclusive approach, this workbook will help you overcome the negative, internalized messages about weight that are perpetuated by diet culture, so you can feel at home in your body, improve your mental and physical health, and make positive changes in all aspects of your life.

Lauren Muhlheim, PsyD, is a psychologist, fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS), and approved consultant for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP). Muhlheim is also a Certified Body Trust Provider (CBTP). She directs Eating Disorder Therapy LA, a group practice in Los Angeles, CA. She is certified in family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescent eating disorders, and is author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder.

Muhlheim has held leadership roles in several professional organizations, including the AED, IAEDP, and the Los Angeles County Psychological Association. She has previously been an IAEDP core course instructor. She provides training on eating disorders to mental health providers and parents internationally. She has a website and a blog, and has built a solid professional platform around weight-inclusive modified evidence-based treatments for eating disorders, specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and FBT. 

Jennifer Averyt, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical health psychologist based in Phoenix, AZ. She provides weight-inclusive care for individuals with eating disorders and chronic health concerns, as well as training and consultation in the delivery of evidence-based eating disorder treatment.

Shannon Patterson, MEd, PhD, is a licensed psychologist based in Madison, WI, with a specialized focus on the intersection of eating disorder treatment and psychological adjustment to chronic illness. She is founder and owner of a private practice, offering both in-person and virtual therapy to individuals across the United States. Beyond her direct care services, Shannon holds an educational role at an eating disorder treatment company where she provides training and consultation to therapists and health care professionals across the United States. She also contributes to the advancement of the field as an ad hoc reviewer for the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Foreword writer Carolyn Black Becker, PhD, is professor of psychology at Trinity University and a licensed, board-certified clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment and research of eating disorders, PTSD, and anxiety-based disorders.