🧠 CBT vs. CFT: What's the difference?
Plus: The dangers of AI for mental health
Hi writers!
I consider myself an ultra-sensitive gal (and proud of it!). However, this meant that when my eating disorder was loud and pushy, I let it be this way.
I shut down, closed off, void of the strength to fight back. I’d never wanted to meet conflict with conflict, so I felt stuck in an unending pattern of self-beratement.
Eventually, I developed a strong enough self-talk practice to mount a defense against the eating disorder. But it took a long time and required daily (if not hourly) effort.
I also had been navigating harshness from some treatment providers who (I could tell) were becoming impatient with my unwillingness (or inability, depending on who you’re talking to) to make changes.
What I could have used at the time was a bit more compassion. I’d been so used to people (and me) getting fed up with my lack of progress, they’d become overtly frustrated, give up, or cut me out of their lives.
If I’d learned how to show compassion toward myself, I believe my recovery could have looked very differently. Maybe it would have started earlier, moved faster, and been slightly more pleasant (although that last point is probably a heavy dose of wishful thinking).
This week, I explore a new (to me) form of therapy called compassion-focused therapy (CFT). This modality seems promising for the world of mental illness, where cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has reigned for decades.
Plus, as a surprise to no one, AI is in hot water again. The technology is under serious scrutiny for recommending harmful behavior to teens and youth, sparking heated debates on how to move forward.
Want more recovery content? Follow me on Instagram for updates about the world of eating disorder recovery! ⬇️
Yours in recovery,
Allie 💗
Food for Thought 📖
Can compassion-focused therapy (CFT) help treat eating disorders?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been an effective method of therapy for all kinds of mental health ailments for decades. But what if there were an alternative method to try for eating disorder recovery, one that focuses more on compassion for the self?
A recent article from the Journal of Eating Disorders has brought a new (to me) treatment modality to light. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) emphasizes “a compassionate self-approach…focusing more on body image acceptance and potentially breaking the shame-cycle caused by stigma.”
Naturally, I’m curious. I was a terrible teammate to myself during the majority of the years spent under the control of my eating disorder. As much as I tried flipping the negative narrative through self-talk and sessions with treatment providers, practicing compassion toward myself on a regular basis wasn’t always a priority.
In this post, I want to explore:
what is compassion-focused therapy (CFT)?
how can CFT improve eating disorder recovery outcomes?
what does a modality like CFT mean for the greater mental health community?
Let’s dive in.
ED Digest 📰
Young people flock to AI for companionship and advice
According to recent research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH): “ChatGPT is betraying young people by generating dangerous advice about self-harm and suicide, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
“CCDH researchers carried out a large-scale safety test on ChatGPT, one of the world’s most popular AI chatbots. Within minutes of simple interactions, the system produced instructions related to self-harm, suicide planning, disordered eating, and substance abuse.”
For eating disorders specifically, the testing patterns revealed:
How to create a restrictive diet plan
Ways to hide eating habits from family
Appetite-suppressing medications
According to an article from CBS News: “The answers reflect a design feature of AI language models that previous research has described as sycophancy—a tendency for AI responses to match, rather than challenge, a person's beliefs because the system has learned to say what people want to hear.”
Pause & Prompt 📝
How I show myself compassion in tough times…
