Integrated behavior therapy in the treatment of complicated tourette's disorder and its comorbidities
Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that often presents with a complex array of motor and phonic tics that persist over the majority of a person's life. GTS often presents with comorbidities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mood disorders. Psychosocial sequelae are also common among this population.We present the case of a 49-year-old female with severe, lifelong GTS complicated by OCD, inattention, impulsivity, disinhibition, mood disturbances, generalized anxiety, and pain secondary to motor tics. Habit reversal therapy (HRT) was used with full body relaxation conditioned as a competitive response to target her tics, anxiety, and pain simultaneously. The patient demonstrated significant reduction of symptoms and improvement in psychosocial status within four sessions. She was able to maintain this status at a 3 month follow-up session. Aspects of case conceptualization and therapeutic technique are discussed. © 2010 The Author(s).
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- Clinical Psychology
- 5203 Clinical and health psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 1701 Psychology
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Clinical Psychology
- 5203 Clinical and health psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 1701 Psychology