Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Dysfunctional Eating among Patients Admitted for Bariatric Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 1

Overview of the 10-week CBT-intervention.

Sessions	Session content
Session 1; (at the center) both groups	(i) Establishing rapport with the patient in order to facilitate a good therapeutic working alliance.; (ii) Providing information about the interventions to all patients.; (iii) Conducting the baseline measurements and performing the randomization and informing the patients about their allocated group.
Session 2; (at the center)	(i) Introduction to the underlying principles of the therapy (working transparently, collaboratively, being time-limited, and using a manual).; (ii) Informing the patient about CBT and the treatment plans in the study.; (iii) Psychoeducation focusing on the relationships between eating behaviors, cognitive and behavioral patterns, affect-regulation, and obesity, thus introducing the patients for the CBT model.; (iv) Introducing and explaining home-work sheets for sessions 3 and 4.
Sessions 3 + 4; (by telephone  calls)	(i) Reviewing the patient’s home-work sheets.; (ii) Recognizing and addressing dysfunctional eating behaviors.; (iii) Working with the patient’s behavioral eating patterns (what triggers eating), and the associated cognitions and emotions.; (iv) Providing the patients’ means to assess their own perception about recognizing improvement in dysfunctional cognitions and eating behaviors.
Session 5; (at the center)	(i) Coping with situational “triggers” that may lead to dysfunctional cognitive and eating behavioral patterns.; (ii) Working with the patient’s cognitive and behavioral eating patterns (“triggers,” cognition, emotion, and eating behavior).; (iii) Introducing and explaining home-work sheets for sessions 6 & 7.
Session 6 & 7; (by telephone calls)	(i) Reviewing the patient’s home-work sheets.; (ii) Continuing the intervention techniques.; (iii) Reinforcing positive changes in eating behaviors.
Session 8; (at the center)	(i) Continuation or refining intervention techniques (as session 5) by guiding the patient in avoiding situational “triggers” and making a plan for practicing new eating behaviors.; (ii) Introducing and explaining home-work sheets for sessions 9 & 10.
Session 9 & 10; (by telephone calls)	(i) Reviewing the patient’s home-work sheets.; (ii) Continuation or refining intervention techniques.
Session 11; (at the center)	(i) Relapse prevention.; (ii) Ending of treatment and helping the patient to maintain positive changes.