Private hospital launches UK’s first psychology-led obesity service

Service uses talking therapies as alternative to surgery

A private London hospital has launched the UK’s first dedicated obesity service which uses psychological treatment as an alternative to surgery.

Capio Nightingale Hospital, the capital’s leading mental health treatment centre, claims its therapy-based solution addresses underlying psychological triggers which cause obesity rather than purely ‘fixing’ the condition from a physical point of view.

It says this will dramatically reduce the chance of relapse and offers a long-term solution without the need for surgery.

The new treatment model that underpins the obesity service has been developed by the hospital’s multi-disciplinary team of clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, dieticians and consultant psychiatrists.

The programme is designed to improve an individual’s sense of self and to help them identify, express and process their emotional responses and to distinguish them from any physical urges.

Following an initial assessment and consultation, the treatment model will be tailored to the individual needs of the patient, with a programme of individual therapies prescribed, including cognitive behavioural therapy, attachment therapy, interpersonal therapy and psychodynamic therapy.

The first patients will undergo treatment from November 2012 onwards. Prices for a year’s course of treatment start from £4,000.

Dr Bijal Chheda Varma, joint-lead of the Capio Nightingale Hospital Obesity Service therapy team, said: “The UK is at risk of entering an obesity crisis, with patient numbers soaring.

“We appreciate that bariatric surgery has an important role to play, but by addressing the underlying psychological triggers for overeating, our carefully tailored programme of therapy offers a more sustainable, cost-efficient and non-invasive solution.”

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