BITE: Behavioral Interventions, Tips, & EvaluatioNs

BITE is a comprehensive collection of evidence-based interventions for anorexia nervosa in adolescents.

BITE includes the following:

  • Structured family sessions that include the use of BITE Handouts (e.g. a list of treatment rules, suggestions for ways to manage difficult behavior, how to shape recovery behavior etc.)
  • A simple way to code both adaptive & unhelpful parental behavior during in session family meals or snacks
  • Guidelines on sharing that feedback with parents to promote adaptive meal-time behavior
  • Weekly evaluations that assess the frequency of BITE-specific behavioral treatment targets for both the patient (e.g. eating disorder behavior, recovery behavior, skill usage, etc.) and parent
  • Easy-to-use food and behavior logs for the parent to complete
  • Clearly written BITE Handouts on "Earned Freedoms," or food responsibilities a patient may earn over time
  • A systematized protocol for giving Earned Freedoms back to the adolescent once weight is restored
  • Adolescent friendly group exercises aimed at accepting parental control over food
  • Adolescent friendly group exercises that encourage recovery-oriented behavior in early treatment
  • Adolescent friendly CBT group exercises that teach patients to identify & dispute eating disordered thoughts
  • Adolescent friendly CBT group exercises aimed at coping with fat talk and thin ideal messages
  • Individual session guidelines to giving patients a replacement behavior to the restriction and avoidance of food: regular and appetitive eating (RAE), the practice of eating three square meals per day (with snacks)and according to one's own hunger and fullness cues
  • A focus on body acceptance and exposure (BAE) exercises conducted once the patient is weight restored & equipped with skills
  • And a lot more!

Even further, the BITE Clinican Manual includes:

  • A guide to selecting the most appropriate BITE interventions
  • A guide, based on patient's progress in treatment, for graduating a patient to different BITE interventions
  • A guide on how to administer both BITE Handouts and BITE Evaluations

Sample BITE Material: