[Are there specific factors in the psychotherapy of anorexia nervosa?]

The present literature review examines the question of how general and specific factors can be differentiated in the psychotherapy of anorexia nervosa. Over the past 10 years different research trends have appeared. On the one hand subclassifications of new therapy approaches from several schools of therapy have been propagated (e.g. CBT-E, FPT), on the other hand generic treatment manuals have been published that are rather adapted to patients needs (e.g. SSCM, TTM). On a third way, currently therapy manuals for special subgroups have been developed, e.g. for chronic patients with anorexia nervosa or family-based manuals for adolescents. A completely different direction follows those approaches that are based on neuropsychological models and deficits in anorexia nervosa. Overall, the results of current studies have been promising, however, there has not been a winner yet, the race is still open!