Archive for July, 2007

There’s nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so…

Friday, July 27th, 2007

Does Shakespeare’s famous maxim apply to head injury?

According to a new study, the answer is yes.

Researchers recently looked at patients with mild head injuries (90% of head injuries in Western countries are classified as “mild”) to see whether perceptions of illness contributed to the development and severity of post-concusional syndrome (PCS). 73 patients with mild head injuries participated in the study. They were monitored for PCS symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms, perceptions of illness, depression and anxiety. Scales were completed at the time of injury, and at 3-month follow-up.

The results: patients who believed their injuries would have a serious effect on their quality of life were at greater risk for post-concusional symptoms.

What are the implications for treatment? As the article states: “Recognition of the maladaptive cognitions that contribute to poor outcome of the sort suggested by this study will be helpful in the development of effective cognitive-behavioral interventions.”

Posted in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Head Injury, Research Results | No Comments »

Love is Never Enough

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

Say you’re having an argument with your partner, housemate or friend. What’s going through your mind during the interaction? How are you interpreting the other person’s remarks and behaviors? How is the other person reading what you say and do? And how often are you both reading each other’s signals correctly?

Cognitive Therapy (CT) is used for many disorders, but it’s also effective for everyday problems… including relationship problems. It can help people untangle the misinterpretations and distorted thinking that pop up, especially when expectations are high.

For instance, let’s say Adam and Laura, a married couple, are headed to a dinner party one night, hosted by one of Adam’s friends. Laura gets held up at work, and comes home late, thereby making both of them late for the dinner party. Adam gets disgruntled and thinks, she doesn’t care about me or my friends. She never manages to be on time and it just isn’t respectful. I’m sick of this. Meanwhile, Laura gets annoyed with Adam and thinks, he never asks what’s going on at work. All he cares about is his stupid social life. Can’t he see I’m stressed out?  (more…)

Posted in Cognitive Therapy, Relationship Problems | 1 Comment »

All-male CBT workshops effective for men with insomnia

Thursday, July 19th, 2007

CBT has been successfully used to treat insomnia in both men and women, but according to a recent article men tend to seek treatment less often than women. Even when they consult their primary care providers, those providers are often unaware of CBT’s effectiveness and may have limited CBT resources to offer their patients.

To address this, researchers offered group CBT in the form of 1-day, all-male CBT workshops. The study ran six months, and drew 111 inquiries, some of them self-referred. The researchers noted that roughly half of the participants had not mentioned their insomnia to their primary care providers. In a six-week follow-up, the men “reported significant improvements in their sleep, as well as reductions in their depression.”

–Read more about CBT for insomnia.

Posted in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Insomnia | No Comments »

Cognitive Therapy website comes in 7th of the Top 10 Psychology Sites

Monday, July 2nd, 2007

What are the “go-to” websites that clinical psychologists use and refer others to for information about psychology? Dr. Simon Rego queried his colleagues to find out. 

Of the Top 10 Psychology websites, the Academy of Cognitive Therapy came in 7th – “a site that offers information about cognitive therapy, how to become certified as a cognitive therapist, training in cognitive therapy.” We’ve been talking about the Academy of Cognitive Therapy on this blog for awhile, and are excited to see that the organization is receiving some recognition for being a great cognitive therapy resource. To add to Rego’s comments, the Academy’s website also refers people to certified cognitive therapists all over the world, and provides information about research studies that have demonstrated CT to be effective for dozens of disorders. 

For the full “Top 10 Psychology Websites” article, please see the current issue of The Clinical Psychologist, page 7. 

Posted in Academy of CT, Cognitive Therapy | 2 Comments »