Modern approaches to the treatment of anorexia nervosa. "The third wave" of cognitive behavioral therapy

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is being considered one of the most difficult mental disorders to treat. The ego-syntonic nature of this mental disorder makes patients particularly reluctant to engage in or consent to treatment with relatively high drop-out rate. For all these reasons the treatment often takes a very long time, and the illness progresses to the chronic form, increasing the suffering of patients. Researchers have been discussing for many years how to provide these patients with measurable aid. Recent years have seen the emergence of arange of new treatment methods for eating disorders, including AN, that provide evidence of their effectiveness, especially in adults. Among them, of special note are those belonging to the third wave of cognitive therapy, mostly offered in the form of training programs. They are discussed in this paper in conjunction with evidence based therapy. This knowledge may help clinicians to decide how to complement traditional forms of treatment in outpatient and inpatient settings.