BEHAVIOUR/TREATMENT The treatment of binge eating disorder with cognitive behavior therapy and other therapies: An overview and clinical considerations Felipe Q. da Luz 1,2 | Phillipa Hay 3 | Lucene Wisniewski 4,5 | Táki Cordás 1 | Amanda Sainsbury 6 1 Eating Disorders Program (AMBULIM), Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of S~ ao Paulo, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil 2 Charles Perkins Centre, The Boden Collaboration for Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia 3 Translational Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia 4 Center for Evidence Based Treatment, Shaker Heights, OH, USA 5 Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA 6 School of Human Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Correspondence Felipe Q. da Luz, Institute of Psychiatry, Eating Disorders Program (AMBULIM), Faculty of Medicine, University of S~ ao Paulo, S~ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Email: felipe.luz@usp.br Funding information National Health and Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: 1135897; S~ ao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP, Grant/Award Numbers: 2018/18028-2, 2019/14622-0 Summary Binge eating disorder (BED) is a public health problem in several countries. BED is commonly associated with comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes, and depression. Notwithstanding the health problems associated with BED, evidence-based treat- ments for BED are not widely used by healthcare professionals worldwide. Thus, we provide an overview of the leading evidence-based psychological therapies for BED, with the intention of informing healthcare professionals and the general community and facilitating greater provision of treatment. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for BED is briefly presented, focusing mainly on adaptations and stages of the cognitive behavior therapy-enhanced (CBT-E) transdiagnostic model for eating disorders. We also succinctly discuss the use of CBT in combination with weight management inter- ventions or pharmacotherapy, as well as the use of interpersonal therapy and dialectical behavior therapy for BED. We conclude that there is a variety of evidence-based psychological therapies that can be used by a variety of healthcare professionals (not only by psychologists) to help reduce binge eating and associated psychopathology in people with BED. Given the high and increasing prevalence of BED, as well as the availability of effective evidence-based treatments, we encourage more healthcare professionals to explore up-skilling to assist people with BED. KEYWORDS binge eating disorder, cognitive behavior therapy, obesity, therapy 1 | INTRODUCTION Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5) by recurrent binge eating episodes that have occurred at least once a week for the past 3 months. 1 Binge eating episodes are defined as the ingestion of an amount of food that is larger than most people would consume under similar circumstances, combined with an accompanying sense of loss of control over eating. 1 The DSM-5 criteria for BED also require that people experience at least three of the following five features: (1) eat- ing much more quickly than normal; (2) eating until feeling excessively full; (3) overeating when not feeling physically hungry; (4) eating alone because of embarrassment related to the amount of food consumed; and (5) feeling disgusted, depressed, or very guilty after binging. 1 Abbreviations: BED, binge eating disorder; BMI, body mass index; CBT, cognitive behavior therapy; CBT-E, cognitive behavior therapy-enhanced; DBT, dialectical behavior therapy; DSM-5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5; EDE, Eating Disorders Examination; EDE-Q, Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire; FDA, United States Food and Drug Administration; HAPIFED, a Healthy APproach to weIght management and Food in Eating Disorders; LOCES, Loss of Control over Eating Scale; MINI, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Received: 27 August 2020 Revised: 13 November 2020 Accepted: 15 November 2020 DOI: 10.1111/obr.13180 Obesity Reviews. 2020;1–12. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/obr © 2020 World Obesity Federation 1