Objective: In this Phase II trial, we evaluated a novel psychological treatment for depressed patients coping with the stresses of cancer. Effectiveness of a combined biobehavioral intervention (BBI) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was studied. Method: Participants were 36 cancer survivors (mean age = 49 years; 88% Caucasian; 92% female)…

Psychological interventions for migraines typically include biofeedback training, stress-management training, or relaxation training and are implemented without consideration of environmental variables that might maintain migraines or complaints of migraines. An adolescent with daily reports of migraines that negatively impacted school attendance…

Psychosocial treatments for chronic pain are effective. There is a need, however, to understand the processes involved in determining how these treatments contribute to behavior change. Control and acceptance strategies represent two potentially important processes involved in treatment, although they differ significantly in approach. Results from…

Sixty-four headache sufferers were allocated randomly to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), temporal pulse amplitude (TPA) biofeedback training, or waiting-list control. Fifty-one participants (14M/37F) completed the study, 30 with migraine and 21 with tension-type headache. Treatment consisted of 8, 1-hour sessions. CBT was highly effective,…

Evaluated effects of group behavioral therapy including aerobic exercise, behavioral therapy alone, and aerobic exercise alone on pain and physical and psychological disability among mildly disabled chronic low-back-pain patients (n=96). The combined behavioral therapy and exercise group improved significantly more pretreatment to posttreatment…

For Vietnamese refugees, we describe (a) how headache- and orthostasis-focused panic attacks are generated, (b) a culturally sensitive treatment for PTSD with comorbid headache- and orthostasis-focused panic attacks, and (c) the outcome of a treatment series. In a multiple-baseline, across-subjects design (N = 3), all patients demonstrated…

Effects of Behavioral Activation Treatment (BAT) on pain anxiety, depression, and pain interference on a 43-year-old female with an 11-year history of chronic fibromyalgia pain are described. Analgesic, anxyiolytic, and antidepressant medications were stabilized prior to participation. Dependent measures were the Behavioral Relaxation Scale, a…

Objective: To compare the rates of physical, psychiatric, and suicide-related events in adolescents with MDD treated with fluoxetine alone (FLX), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), combination treatment (COMB), or placebo (PBO). Method: Safety assessments included adverse events (AEs) collected by spontaneous report, as well as systematic…

This case example illustrates how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) within a behavior medicine approach was used in the rehabilitation of an adolescent with debilitating chronic pain. For chronic pain with unclear etiology (idiopathic pain), pharmacological therapy alone is often insufficient. Psychological treatment strategies have been…