This book breaks down into two main sections. The first is a detailed review of the literature on binge eating disorder and its treatment. The second section details a 15-week RCT-tested CBT treatment protocol for binge eating disorder.

Part one provides a clear and critical review of the key research and theory on binge eating disorder. In particular, the book starts with a detailed review and well argued analysis of the validity of the diagnostic concept of BED and the distinction between BED and nonpurging bulimia nervosa. The authors maintain this level of critical depth and analysis throughout the first section and make clear the limits of the current levels of evidence. The first section is usefully broken down into chapters on: diagnosis and epidemiology; clinical features; BED and obesity; the biological and psychological features of eating behaviours in people with BED; medical interventions; psychotherapeutic interventions and future directions.

Of particular use to the therapists or psychologists who may not have a medical background is the book's comprehensive coverage of medical interventions for the treatment of BED. There is a comprehensive review of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of BED and a review of weight loss agents. In addition, there is also a great deal of information on the medical risks of BED and on the surgical interventions for weight control (bariatric surgery). The authors say their aim is to present this information for people who may not have specialist knowledge in this area and they succeed in producing a highly informative piece of work.

The chapter reviewing the psychological therapies for BED presents a critical review of studies into psychotherapy for BED and, having identified CBT as the best studied and most supported therapy for BED, presents a summary of what the authors have identified as the essential elements of successful CBT for BED.

The second section of the book consists of a brief introduction to the key elements of treatment and then presents a week to week session guide for a 15-week CBT programme. The text does not include detailed descriptions of CBT cognitive procedures (a moderate competence in core CBT skills would be required to use the manual). As well as providing a breakdown of session activities and between-session assignments, the guide for each weekly session also provides some summary information on the key focus for each session, with brief advice on what the therapist should be doing. The information here can be quite brief, and while the weekly session plans are necessarily succinct, a therapist would need a good level of basic CBT skills in order to operationalize the session guides into a therapy session. The scope of the session by session guide covers many areas, such as self-esteem, impulsivity and body image, but the authors do emphasize tailoring the sessions to the client. One area it might have been useful to see more on is motivation to change. The approach taken in this model is an early emphasis on helping clients reflect on the consequences of actions (such as binge eating) and from a clinical perspective this can be a tricky area to navigate. Similarly, the text is a bit thin on information on considerations of the less concrete aspects of therapy, such as alliance issues in working with the issue of BED.

Overall this book is an excellent resource that combines a comprehensive review with a very clear evidenced-based treatment protocol.