Treatment Considerations for Female Overeating and Obesity Using a Transactional Analysis Framework

Abstract

Anorexia and bulimia are readily seen medically, socially, and psychologically as eating disorders representative of disorders of the self arising from developmental deficit or arrest some time between early childhood and adolescence. Overeating and obesity are not so readily seen in this way, although early deficit is regularly a feature of a long-term overweight and overeating condition. In my clinical experience I have found that maintaining overweight and overeating are survival decisions. This article addresses the types of treatment, from medical/disease to psychological models, available for female overeating and obese clients. It considers issues that determine the effectiveness of those treatments using the framework of transactional analysis as a guide.

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