Ilse, a patient with bulimia nervosa on integrative painting therapy. Bulimia nervosa. manifestation of avoiding conflicts?

Over the past few years, the incidence of bulimia has markedly increased, perhaps also as an expression of social changes. We here document the case of Ilse, a bulimic patient treated in the framework of a multidimensional concept based on integrative painting and behavioural therapy. The pictures made in the Painting Group reflect a patient's innermost experience, and are the point of departure for our therapeutic regimen. Ilse's pictures show that she is confronted with the underlying conflicts of her disorder, particularly her relationship to her father and her mis-routed corporealisation. At the same time, we used Beck's Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and recorded the frequency of episodes of bingeing, insatiable appetite and purging using behavioural protocols. Painting, individual and family therapy, and exercises designed to improve bodily awareness were all integrated in a helically-shaped process; the patient was ultimately able to rid herself of her bulimic symptoms, dissociate herself from her birth family, and gain new access to herself and her body.