An eating disorder is a psychological disorder that affects one’s eating habits. According to a 2011 study, approximately 20 million women and 10 million men in the United States suffer from a clinical eating disorder at some point in their lives (Wade, Keski-Rahkonen, & Hudson, 2011). Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other disorders (DSM V, 2013). Recent research has indicated that the prevalence of anorexia nervosa is 0.3% in males, 0.9% in females, and 0.3% in adolescents (Hoek, 2006). In 2007, the first national survey to include eating disorders found the prevalence of bulimia nervosa to be 1.5% in the United States (Hudson, Hiripi, Kessler, 2007). The fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013) was revised to include binge eating disorder, which has a prevalence rate of 2.6% in white women and 4.5% in African American women (DSM V, 2013; Pike, Dohm, Striegel-Moore, & Fairburn, 2001; Striegel-Moore, Wilfley, & Pike, 2000). Though overall prevalence rates are low, eating disorders impact millions of Americans each year, and eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders(Neumarker, 2000). Music therapy, defined as the use of musical interventions to address non-musical goals, has its roots in mental health care (Silverman, 2015). While music therapy is one of the treatment options for individuals with eating disorders, very little research is available regarding music therapy with this population (Hilliard, 2001). This manual provides an overview of music therapy for the treatment of eating disorders with the purpose of better equipping music therapists with the knowledge and tools to serve the growing eating disorder population.
