Understanding MED-DBT
What is MED-DBT?
MED-DBT (Multidiagnostic Eating Disorder – Dialectical Behavior Therapy) is an evidence-based treatment model developed in the early 2000s to meet the needs of individuals not fully helped by standard eating-disorder approaches like FBT or CBT-E. It’s designed for people living with eating disorders alongside co-occurring challenges such as trauma, suicidality, or difficulties with emotion regulation and relationships. Unlike other DBT adaptations, MED-DBT offers a full, integrated framework for clients requiring intensive, compassionate, and medically-informed care.
About Our Courses
Our on-demand self-paced modules offer clinicians a comprehensive introduction to MED-DBT a principle-driven, trauma-responsive adaptation of DBT designed for individuals whose eating disorders coexist with emotion dysregulation, suicidality, self-injury, neurodiversity, and medical instability.
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Care
Trauma-responsive and trauma-informed care in MED-DBT reflects our commitment to recognizing and countering the invalidating environments many of our clients exist within. In developing this treatment, it was important to us to ground all interventions and theoretical frameworks in an understanding of chronic invalidation, systemic oppression, and unsafe or harmful care experiences, and the impact these experiences can have on emotion regulation, eating disorders, relationships, identity, and overall wellbeing.
This includes an ongoing commitment to fostering safety, transparency, trust, collaboration, empowerment and choice, validation of lived experience, and intersectional awareness throughout all aspects of care.
Creating Safety Through Care
Meeting Clients Where They Are, with Empathy, Structure, and Respect for the Complexity of Recovery
Featured Book: The MED-DBT Protocol
People with eating disorders who also struggle with co-occurring high-risk or dysregulated behaviors are often not well served by standard eating disorder therapies. From pioneering treatment developers Anita Federici and Lucene Wisniewski, this book presents a groundbreaking adaptation of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for individuals with multidiagnostic eating disorder (MED) presentations.
MED-DBT is affirming, non-stigmatizing, and evidence informed. It integrates the full DBT model - including individual therapy, skills training, phone coaching, and consultation team - with strategies for treating eating behaviors, body image, interoception, and medical instability. Featuring rich case examples, the book is grounded in extensive clinical experience and state-of-the-art neurobiological research. A reproducible MED-DBT Diary Card and other useful tools can be photocopied or downloaded and printed.
