The Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults (MANTRA), centered around a patient workbook, is an anorexia-specific therapy developed for people with a broad range of severities, complexities and comorbidities. The aim of MANTRA is to help people recover physically and emotionally and – in the words of one of our patients – to ‘get a bigger life’, i.e. to develop a flourishing non-anorexic self. MANTRA is based on a cognitive-interpersonal model. Treatment targets are key maintaining factors, including [a] a thinking style characterised by inflexibility, detail focus and fear of making mistakes, [b] an in-expressive, avoidant emotional and relational style, [c] positive beliefs about the utility of anorexia for the person, and [d] a response of close others characterised by high expressed emotion and enabling of and accommodation to the illness. It has a solid evidence-base and in 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended MANTRA as a first line treatment for adults with anorexia nervosa.

This interactive and experiential training workshop will introduce the MANTRA model and workbook, and how to implement its components with patients across different illness and developmental stages, from young first episode cases to those with more complex or long-lasting presentations. We will also address issues, such as how to choose and maintain a therapeutic focus, how to marry a motivational and accepting stance with behaviour change, how to use the MANTRA formulation to optimally work with the patient and their family, and how to deal with non-compliance, ‘stuckness’, and lack of progress. Ample case stories and examples from our own practice will be used to illustrate these issues.