Anorexia nervosa (AN) has been approached from multiple medical, social and psychological perspectives, but it still stands as a major challenge for the clinician, due to its resistance to treatment, low therapeutic compliance and severe complications.

To asses the efficacy of an interpersonal focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in patients diagnosed with AN.

We enrolled in 12 weeks, 3 sessions a week, CBT program a number of three patients, females, admitted successively in our departments, diagnosed with AN, who didn’t have previously any kind of psychotherapy. The first patient was 22, diagnosed with AN-restricting type, had a BMI of 14.5 and a score on Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) of 34. The second patient was 19, presented AN-binge eating-purging, had a BMI of 14 and an EAT score of 35. The third patient was 25, had also AN-binge eating-purging, a BMI of 15 and an EAT score of 32.

The first two patients responded well to the CBT program, but the first signs of recovery (EAT decreases of at least 5 points and increases of at least 1 unit on BMI) appeared after 10 weeks (15 sessions). The third patient discontinued rather fast the psychological treatment. The follow up (12 weeks after endpoint) showed relapse in one CBT-treated patient and a severe status of the patient that discontinued psychotherapy.

The CBT focused on communicational skills enhancement is beneficial in patients with AN, but responses appear rather late and need to be boosted by frequent follow-up sessions.