All About Barf...and Other Fears: A Clinician's Guide to Using Exposure in the Treatment of ARFID

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a diagnosis that captures a heterogeneous group of symptoms and eating presentations. Clinicians currently have access to limited research on the treatment of ARFID and even less about specific treatments that may be effective for different presentations of the disorder. Early clinical treatment research in the field of ARFID frequently mentions the use of exposure-based interventions, particularly for individuals with selective eating and fears of aversive consequences related to eating. Outcomes from partial hospital settings that use exposure-based treatments are promising, and the first manualized CBT treatment of ARFID also includes exposure as a treatment component. Clinicians may benefit from guidance on the different types of exposure that may be relevant to ARFID and how to effectively implement these interventions. The presenters will draw on their extensive clinical practice using exposure therapy for ARFID to provide an introduction to exposure techniques with these patients. Presenters will first provide an overview of the principles of exposure therapy, as well as the rationale for using these interventions with ARFID patients (15 minutes). Next, the presenters will describe 3 different types of exposure and associated protocols to use in practice with ARFID: interoceptive exposure, cue-based exposure, and exposures for selective eating and sensory sensitivity (1 hour). Teaching aids for instruction in each type of exposure will include video of a patient exposure session, in-vivo practice of conducting an exposure, and case examples. Finally, presenters will engage workshop participants in a discussion about potential challenges with using exposure therapy for ARFID, developmental considerations and modifications, and clinical applications (15 minutes).

This course is based on the video, All About Barf...and Other Fears: A Clinician's Guide to Using Exposure in the Treatment of ARFID created by Tana Luo, PhD et al in 2020.