Journal of Medical Internet Research (05/25/26) Lock, James; Le Grange, Daniel; Matheson, Brittany; et al.

A recent study addresses the gap between evidence-based treatments and typical clinical practice by testing two scalable online methods for training U.S. therapists in family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescent anorexia nervosa. In a randomized trial of 123 licensed private-practice clinicians with no prior FBT experience, participants received either a webinar lecture series or an interactive on-demand e-training, followed by optional group case-consultation sessions. The researchers used training incentives, in the form of continuing medical education (CME) credits, to encourage the clinicians to participate, noting that this would help offset any income loss related to the time spent on training and CME credits are needed for continued licensure. Both training formats were highly feasible, with 95% completion, and both produced significant increases in therapists’ FBT fidelity, self-efficacy, and working alliance, though the interactive training yielded a greater improvement in alliance. Early patient weight-gain response rates doubled after training and consultation, rising from 16% to 34%, comparable to outcomes seen in controlled trials, with no differences between training types. Overall, the findings show that online FBT training is practical and effective, though future work should improve patient recruitment and optimize consultation to enhance training impact.

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