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A Psychological Approach to the Treatment of Migraine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Kenneth R. Mitchell*
Affiliation:
Student Counselling and Research Unit, University of New South Wales, P.O. Box 1, Kensington, N.S.W. 2033, Australia

Extract

Recently, Mitchell (1969) treated 16 migraine subjects using a combination of three specific behaviour therapy techniques namely, applied relaxation training, desensitization and assertive therapy. Migraine episodes for the treatment subjects decreased by an average of 89.5 per cent when compared with their pre-treatment base rate; no change was reported by six control subjects. The present investigation reports the comparative effectiveness of the three behaviour therapy techniques used previously. The specific therapeutic effectiveness of applied relaxation training was compared with that of combined desensitization (relaxation application, desensitization and assertive therapy). This comparison follows the conclusion by Cautela (1969), ‘… that relaxation can be considered a self-control technique in its own right: first, when it is used to reduce the overall anxiety level, and second, as a means of decreasing anxiety or tension whenever the patient is either involved in a readily identifiable anxiety-provoking situation, or is experiencing anxiety without being able to discern the antecedent conditions (p. 328.)’ It was predicted that combined desensitization would be more effective than the single-model procedure of applied relaxation training.

Type
Abstract
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

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References

Cautela, J. R. (1969). ‘Behaviour therapy and self-control: technique and implications.’ In Behaviour Therapy Appraisal and Status. (Ed. Franks), New York.Google Scholar
Mitchell, K. R. (1969). ‘The treatment of migraine: an exploratory application of time limited behaviour therapy.’ Technology, 14, (2), 50–5.Google Scholar
Salter, A. (1961) Conditioned Reflex Therapy. New York.Google Scholar
Wolpe, J. (1958). Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford.Google Scholar
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