Three presentations are commonly seen in individuals with ARFID: those who lack interest in eating (for example, forgetting to eat), those who have a fear of some aversive consequence of eating (for example, fear of choking or an allergic reaction despite eating foods medically cleared for their diet), and food selectivity due to sensory sensitivity (for example, individuals are typically put off by foods that don’t look ‘right’).  These individuals typically eat few vegetables and protein, and both children and adults can struggle with this disorder.

CBT-AR is a treatment designed to target the mechanisms of ARFID and is typically 20 sessions in length, one hour in length. There are four stages of treatment. Stage one includes education and creating early change through regular eating. Stage two is a treatment planning session, where you and your counsellor would decide what eating behavior you will tackle and in which order. The third stage, which is the largest, will include addressing maintaining mechanism of each ARFID domain (sensory sensitivity, fear of aversive consequences, and/or lack of interest in food). The final stage is relapse prevention. CBT-AR can be done with the family or individually and interventions are similar.