In eating disorder treatment, cognitive therapy addresses which issue?

• A. Control and self-esteem
• B. Weight maintenance
• C. Physical fitness
• D. Social skills

Answer: (A)

Cognitive therapy for eating disorders targets how beliefs about control and self-worth fuel disordered eating. People often use food intake and body size as a way to feel in control or to prove their value, so thoughts like "If I eat less, I’m in control" or "my worth is tied to how thin I am" push restrictive eating, bingeing, or compensatory behaviors. The therapy helps identify these automatic beliefs, question their accuracy, and replace them with healthier ways of thinking and coping. By building a sense of self-worth that isn’t linked to weight or food and by learning to tolerate uncomfortable emotions without turning to eating, the behavior patterns begin to loosen.

Weight maintenance, physical fitness, and social skills may be addressed in other parts of treatment, but the cognitive approach specifically targets the thinking patterns around control and self-esteem that largely sustain the eating disorder.