The use of a group meal in the brief group therapy of bulimia nervosa.

The group meal is a technique that can be easily incorporated into traditional forms of short-term group therapy for bulimia nervosa. It is a modification of the exposure and response-prevention model that has been used in the treatment of this population. Patients plan and eat a meal together with the group therapist during one of the group therapy sessions. Over the course of the meal, patients discuss thoughts and feelings as they experience them, allowing for greater depth of therapeutic work than when simply recalling events that occurred between sessions. A case example is described to illustrate several of the important themes that emerge, including reactions to feeling full, family meals, and the relationship between overeating and feelings about the self.