Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy on Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Single-Case Experimental Design

Résumé fourni par la source

Context: Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is often resistant to standard treatments. Shame plays a central role in BDD, making Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) a potentially effective alternative intervention. Evidence Acquisition: This preliminary study examined the effectiveness of CFT in reducing BDD symptoms using a Single-Case Experimental Design with a multiple baseline design across participants. Four adults diagnosed with BDD at a university counseling center were purposively selected based on DSM-5 criteria and a minimum score of 14 on the Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ). Exclusion criteria included active suicidality, severe psychiatric comorbidities, or recent psychiatric medication use. The intervention comprised 14 individual CFT sessions based on the Gilbert model. Participants completed weekly measures of appearance anxiety, dysmorphic concerns, body image shame, and body compassion. Visual inspection and nonoverlap indices (PND, PEM, PAND, ECL) were used for analysis. Results: All participants showed reductions in appearance anxiety (37 - 43%), dysmorphic concerns (43 - 46%), and body image shame (22 - 26%), as well as increases in body compassion (22 - 36%). Effect sizes based on non-overlap indices ranged from moderate to very high (e.g., PEM = 72 - 100%). Clinical significance was achieved in 3 of 4 participants post-treatment and at follow-up. Conclusions: The findings suggest that CFT may be effective in reducing core BDD symptoms and enhancing body-related self-compassion. This single-case study highlights the potential of compassion-based interventions, particularly for clients with high shame sensitivity. Given the limited sample size, the results should be interpreted with caution.

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