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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What Works
Following are a few of the voluminous studies indicating the positive value of behavioral medicine interventions:
- An innovative intervention by Dr. James
J. Strain used brief psychotherapy to reduce the duration of hospitalization
for hip fracture by an average of two days.
- One classic study by Dr. Nicholas
Cummings documented that when patients who made frequent visits to medical
clinics received short-term psychotherapy, their health care costs were reduced
by 10 to 20 percent for several years.
- A 1993 study by Dr. Kate Lorig of the
Stanford University School of Medicine found that arthritis patients who
participated in a behavioral pain management program experienced an increase in
self-efficacy, an average 20 percent decline in pain, and a 40 percent
reduction in visits to their doctors. Starting in 2000, Dr. Lorig's work under
the Stanford NCCAM-funded program will extend for pioneering work in a study of
arthritis patients learning mindfulness meditation.
- An NIH panel reported in 1996 that use of
behavioral and relaxation approaches in the treatment of chronic pain was
superior to placebo in eight well-designed studies.
- During 1997, a study by Drs. Keefe and
Caldwell found behavioral interventions to be a viable alternative to
conventional treatment for arthritis pain.
- A team of researchers at the former Harvard Community Health Plan, headed by Dr. Caroline Hellman and Dr. Matthew Budd, found that cognitive behavioral interventions reduced physical and psychological distress and utilization of health care services for patients suffering for a variety of chronic diseases.
From THE
BEST ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOES NOT? by Dr. Kenneth R.
Pelletier.
Copyright © 2000 by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier,
Inc.
Reprinted by permission of Simon &
Schuster, Inc., New York, New York.
Unless otherwise indicated,
Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier. All Rights Reserved.
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