Treatment Recommendations Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)
- Cognitive therapy for body dysmorphic disorder
- Behavioral exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) for body dysmorphic disorder
- Acceptance and commitment therapy for body dysmorphic disorder
Cognitive therapy may focus on strategies to reduce the characteristic hopelessness and depression, prior to jumping into exposure and response prevention (ERP). People with BDD commonly require more intensive cognitive restructuring than people with OCD (Phillips et al., 2010).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has also demonstrated promising results for BDD. Therapy participants are asked to examine the enormous value they place on their personal attractiveness, to the exclusion of other values that are important to them. Having identified other important values, therapy participants commit to actively pursuing a life that models these values.
Usually psychotherapy is enhanced by the addition of several different adjunct therapies. The specific selection of additional therapies is determined by individual needs and circumstances. These additional therapies are:
- family therapy for body dysmorphic disorder;
- group therapy for body dysmorphic disorder; and,
- medication for body dysmorphic disorder.
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Further Reading
The content on this page was originally from MentalHelp.net, a website we acquired and moved to MentalHealth.com. This content has not yet been fully updated to meet our content standards and may be incomplete. We are committed to editing, enhancing, and medically reviewing all content by September 30, 2025.
MentalHealth.com is a health technology company guiding people towards self-understanding and connection. The platform provides reliable resources, accessible services, and nurturing communities. Its purpose is to educate, support, and empower people in their pursuit of well-being.