Feminist Framework has proven highly effective - Isis presents at the ANZAED 2011
Isis Coordinator Amanda Dearden and one of Isis's previous research placements - Chantelle Young are presenting at the Australia & New Zealand Eating Disorders Academy on the 26 August.
The presentation will be about Chantelle's research done while on a placedment with Isis in 2010. It's called The Effectivenes of Feminist Group Therapy for Eating Disorders: A Pilot Study.There are exciting findings as it's the first time this data has been available and it has extremely positive implications for Isis and the feminst framework that it uses.
The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of feminist group therapy for eating disorders. An archival sample of 141 (55 retained) female feminist group therapy participants was accessed from Isis group therapy records. All participants completed the 18 week feminist group therapy for eating disorders at Isis which involves weekly three hour group sessions conducted from a feminist framework. Groups are co-facilitated and include a maximum of 12 participants per group. Eating disorder pathology was assessed using the Eating Disorders Inventory – 3 (risk scales) which was administered at baseline, immediate post treatment, and 12-18 month follow-up. Additional measures included a demographic and qualitative questionnaire assessing the nature of the participants eating concerns.
The Feminist group therapy conducted at Isis was found to be effective in reducing eating disorder pathology at post treatment and 12-18 month follow-up. Eating Disorder Inventory – 3 risk scale scores declined significantly by immediate post treatment and continued to decline after treatment end. Symptom reduction at the follow-up period was found to be clinically significant with participants reporting pathology within the low clinical range in at least two of the four clinical risk scales. Additionally, feminist group therapy was found to be effective regardless of eating disorder type but individuals with a formal diagnosis responded less favourably to the treatment than non-diagnosed participants. These findings suggest that Feminist therapy is an effective and legitimate treatment alternative for eating disorders but results should be interpreted tentatively until replicated with larger samples.
If you would like to know more information about the study contact Isis for more information.
