**Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Current Paths in the Management of Obesity Management of Obesity**

**Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Current Paths in the** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.72586

Alessandro Musetti, Roberto Cattivelli, Anna Guerrini, Anna Maria Mirto, Francesco Vailati Riboni, Giorgia Varallo, Gianluca Castelnuovo and Enrico Molinari Anna Maria Mirto, Francesco Vailati Riboni, Giorgia Varallo, Gianluca Castelnuovo and Enrico Molinari Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Alessandro Musetti, Roberto Cattivelli, Anna Guerrini,

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72586

#### **Abstract**

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The treatment of obesity and its related chronic symptoms is one of the major issues that world healthcare systems are facing today. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective therapies in the treatment of dysfunctional eating behaviors. In the first part of the chapter, the phenomenon of obesity will be introduced; subsequently, the role of CBT into obesity treatment will be underlined. CBT's core strategies will be presented and analyzed: goal setting, self-monitoring, stimulus control, problem solving technique, and cognitive restructuring technique. The use of these strategies and related results is a major issue, emphasizing the need for further studies on the phenomenon of obesity, given the excellent results available in the short term, with significant weight loss, but the difficulties in keeping the results achieved in the long run. Since obesity is a chronic condition, CBT treatments must focus on different outcomes, considering weight loss as a consequence of a change in the individual's eating style rather than as a major and only result to be pursued. Finally, we will take into account the topic of motivation in the psychological treatment of obesity since patient's motivation assessment seems to be a major prerequisite for successful weight loss therapy.

**Keywords:** chronic care management, overweight, obesity, rehabilitation, clinical psychology, weight management, cognitive-behavioral therapy

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
