Search

Background: The possibility of using noninvasive brain stimulation to treat mental disorders has received considerable attention recently. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are considered to be effective treatments for depressive symptoms. However, no treatment recommendation is currently available for anxiety disorders, suggesting that evidence is still limited. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of rTMS and tDCS in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we screened 3 electronic databases up to the end of February 2020 for English-language, peer-reviewed articles that included the following: a clinical sample of patients with an anxiety disorder, the use of a noninvasive brain stimulation technique, the inclusion of a control condition, and pre/post scores on a validated questionnaire that measured symptoms of anxiety. Results: Eleven papers met the inclusion criteria, comprising 154 participants assigned to a stimulation condition and 164 to a sham or control group. We calculated Hedge's g for scores on disorder-specific and general anxiety questionnaires before and after treatment to determine effect size, and we conducted 2 independent random-effects metaanalyses. Considering the well-known comorbidity between anxiety and depression, we ran a third meta-analysis analyzing outcomes for depression scores. Results showed a significant effect of noninvasive brain stimulation in reducing scores on disorder-specific and general anxiety questionnaires, as well as depressive symptoms, in the real stimulation compared to the control condition. Limitations: Few studies met the inclusion criteria; more evidence is needed to strengthen conclusions about the effectiveness of noninvasive brain stimulation in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Conclusion: Our findings showed that noninvasive brain stimulation reduced anxiety and depression scores compared to control conditions, suggesting that it can alleviate clinical symptoms in patients with anxiety disorders., Introduction Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental disorder in most Western societies (1,2) and are one of the foremost causes of disability. (3) (For epidemiologic details, see [...]

Permissive beliefs relate to the acceptability of engaging in alcohol use in spite of obvious potential negative consequences. They are considered the most proximal and precipitating cognitive factor in the decision to use alcohol and/or the activation of strategies to obtain it. Recent research suggested that 'desire thinking' may be involved in the escalation of craving and addictive behaviours and can play a role in strengthening permissive beliefs. The current study tested whether the induction of desire thinking would have a stronger effect on rate of conviction in permissive beliefs compared to a control cognitive response in the form of neutral thinking and whether this effect would be specific for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Thirty AUD patients and 30 social drinkers (SD) were randomly allocated to two thinking manipulation tasks (desire thinking and neutral thinking). Current permissive beliefs were measured before and after manipulation and after a resting phase. Findings showed that desire thinking increased the level of current permissive beliefs after manipulation relative to the neutral thinking condition for the AUD group but not for the SD group. This effect was not purely dependent on the concurrent level of perceived craving. This study supports a causal relationship between the induction of desire thinking and rate of conviction in permissive beliefs and highlights the relevance of targeting desire thinking in the treatment for AUD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of integration in psychotherapy between theoretical models and clinical practices arose early and was linked to dissatisfaction with theoretical models and the search for common factors. The integration was initially theoretical, seeking a common basis in learning theory and exploration of mental functioning. Then appeared the first examples of transtheoretical integration that explored the therapist's interventions and assimilative integration who wanted to build an eclectic practice. The age of theoretical integration saw attempts to merge psychoanalysis and behaviorism, behaviorism and humanistic approaches, behaviorism and cognitivism (the only success story) and cognitive and psychodynamic models. Transtheoretical integration then prevailed again thanks to new key variables: the therapeutic relationship, the common factors and the contextualist model. The institutionalization of the integrative movement made possible the birth of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI). The integration remains a clinically significant movement but it is unlikely to provide a common theoretical basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many clinical procedures and psychotherapeutic protocols focused on post-traumatic stress disorder are spreading, some of which showing evidence of empirically confirmed efficacy. In some cases, however, these protocols tend to present themselves as a new clinical paradigm that implies a hyper-inclusive and all-explanatory definition of the trauma. Hyper-inclusive because this paradigm suggests that any kind of aversive experience at the basis of emotional disorders is actually traumatic, that not only PTSD but also many other diagnoses of emotional disorder have a significant traumatic aspect, that the etiology of emotional suffering is explainable in terms of trauma and that the therapy is to be developed in terms of treatment of traumatic aspects. This work reviews the scientific literature behind this conception, discussing the extent to which it can be interpreted in narrow terms as confirmation that there is a traumatic area of emotional suffering, or in the hyper-inclusive and omni-explanatory terms above mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically reviews scientific literature regarding the concepts of «therapeutic relationship», «therapeutic alliance» and «shared case formulation», linking the first to the relational developments of the psychodynamic paradigm, the third to the functional and procedural developments of the cognitive behavioural paradigm, and the second to a trans-theoretical operational concept. This critical examination holds that only the third one is compatible with a consistent and promising development of the cognitive-behavioural psychotherapeutic paradigm, while the first one leads to two incompatible and unpromising outcomes: either an aspecific definition of psychotherapeutic relationship as a decisive aspect present in every therapeutic change, which reduces psychotherapy to a placebo effect and a sterile eclecticism, or to a specific definition which must accept being honestly presented in terms of promise of theoretically founded increased efficacy without surreptitiously using any concepts related to an aspecific definition of therapeutic relationship present in any therapy and capable of making them all homogeneously effective and equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Life themes and plans, Implications of biased Beliefs: Elicitation and Treatment (LIBET) therapy protocol and its implementation in a clinical case are described. There is an assessment phase in which the model is shared with the client, a phase implementing a plan of therapeutic interventions and monitoring both emotional and behavioural improvements, and a final stage of discharge and followup. Antonia A. showed symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder focused on performance, adequacy, judgment of others, health and travelling fears. The LIBET model includes cognitive interventions on frustration intolerance and links them to the process of learning symptoms in relations with emotionally significant figures, within which a theme of inadequacy is processed, together with avoidance and perfectionistic control planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psicoterapia Cognitiva e Comportamentale is the property of Edizioni Centro Studi Erickson SpA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)