ABA in recovery

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) offers practical, evidence-based tools to help challenge disordered patterns, reduce fear responses, and rebuild a healthy relationship with food, body, and self—one behavior at a time.

Shaping: Recovery is Not Linear

Many people with eating disorders have perfectionistic tendencies, striving for control in all aspects of life—including recovery. In her book Sick Enough, Dr. Jennifer Gaudini describes common personality traits in eating disorders, many of which resonated with me.

In treatment, I was constantly reminded: “Recovery is not linear.” I wanted to recover perfectly, just as I had once obsessed over my eating disorder. But that’s impossible. Recovery is messy, full of lapses and relapses, and that’s okay.

This aligns with Shaping, a principle in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In shaping, small improvements are reinforced, even if there are missteps along the way. As long as you’re moving toward the terminal goal—freedom from your eating disorder—you’re progressing.

Extinction Burst: Why It Gets Harder Before It Gets Better

When you stop engaging in eating disorder behaviors, the urges often intensify before they fade. In ABA, this is called an extinction burst—when a behavior initially escalates before it disappears.

For example, if a child is used to getting attention by screaming, they might scream louder when attention is first withdrawn. Similarly, when you stop acting on ED urges, your disorder may try new tactics—stronger urges to purge, binge, or restrict.

This is normal. It’s the brain fighting for familiarity, but it doesn’t mean you’re failing. Over time, these urges will weaken. The key is to push through without giving in, because giving in reinforces the disorder’s control.

Habituation: Facing Fear Foods & Breaking the Cycle

Avoidance fuels fear. In recovery, the foods we fear gain more power the longer we avoid them. Habituation, a principle in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), teaches that repeated exposure to a feared stimulus lessens the emotional reaction to it.

  • What it is: Habituation reduces emotional responses through repetition.

  • In practice: Fear food exposures happened twice a week in treatment.

  • Body's reaction: Initial responses can include panic—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.

  • Long-term benefit: Consistency in exposure rewires fear into neutrality.

By consistently facing my “fear foods” (like chocolate), the panic they once triggered began to fade. At first, my body saw them as dangerous—just like in the Snake vs. Stick experiment, where the brain misinterprets harmless cues until it learns otherwise.Even studies on rats showed that creatures often prefer a dangerous but familiar environment over a safe but unfamiliar one. Eating disorders work the same way—keeping you trapped in a harmful cycle that feels comfortable. The only way out is through consistent exposure and trusting the process.

Behavior Momentum: Feeding the Right Wolf

“Which wolf are you feeding?” This analogy came up often in my recovery. People with eating disorders often describe having two voices:

  • One is your authentic self, seeking freedom and joy.

  • The other is your ED voice, filled with lies and fear.

ABA’s Behavior Momentum concept explains that behaviors with more reinforcement become stronger. In recovery, the more often you engage in recovery-focused actions, the more natural they become.

For example, when I graduated from Partial Hospitalization to Outpatient, I was rewarded with more independence. Other reinforcements came naturally—enjoying birthday cake with friends instead of dreading it. These moments proved that choosing recovery led to more freedom than my eating disorder ever could.

But momentum works both ways. Skipping a meal one day makes it harder to eat regularly the next. The more you deprive yourself, the easier it is to continue restricting. That’s why consistency is key—even when it feels small, every choice builds momentum in one direction or the other.