Online eTherapy Program for Individuals with binge-eating disorder

The Binge Eating eTherapy (BEeT) program consists of ten, one-hour interactive, multi-media sessions developed by clinicians at the InsideOut Institute. BEeT is a Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) program with all core components of CBT demonstrated effective in eating disorders, including establishing regular eating according to the “three-hour rule” and self-monitoring, thought challenging and feared food exposure. BEeT is delivered by a live action therapist (i.e. a recorded video of a therapist delivering the key components of the program). Participants will be instructed to complete one x 60 minute module per week across a ten week period. The program also includes interactives exploring key skills in CBT, an inbuilt Food Monitoring, Behaviour Monitoring, Food Planner, Thought Challenge, and Exposure Tool. The program sends a daily SMS to participants’ mobile phones at approximately 9 a.m. as a reminder to record their meals using the Food Diary tool throughout the day. An additional evening SMS is sent at approximately 6 p.m. to participants who had not completed a Food Diary entry for the preceding two days to prompt re-engagement. Supported self-help BEeT (SSH-BEeT): Participants complete 10 sessions of BEeT in conjunction to 10 weekly x 30 min face-to-face contact sessions with trained clinician across 12 weeks. The clinicians involved will be those employed at NSW Local Health District Community Mental Health Teams or headspace centres. Training of clinicians in the delivery of SSH-BEeT will be provided via an online program and face-to-face training sessions. The weekly contact sessions with clinicians is not intended to serve an additional therapy, rather will involve supporting the participant through their use of BEeT. Accordingly each face-to-face session will have the following structure: general check-in, review of the previous BEeT session and associated homework tasks with particular focus and debrief of specific self-monitoring exercises, review weekly weigh-in and preparation for completion of next BEeT session and associated homework tasks. Adherence to program content will be captured by the eTherapy system, which provides the rates of participant's completion of program content. Adherence will also be assessed by participant's use of the digital food diary, which is also captured by the eTherapy system. Finally, support session attendance is tracked within RedCap by individual support clinicians, who note participant presence at each scheduled meeting, with the time and date recorded.