Thoughts about this Tic Behavioral therapy?

[sahm]

Here is the link I came across:

 

http://somepsychology.com/pstics.htm

 

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Here is an excerpt:

"Dr. Levine's treatment is this: When a tic occurs, repeat the tic 10 times. Don't do this "practice" in public; just doing this at home is fine (and the recommended treatment).

It is important to do the practice right after the tic occurs. The idea of just practicing the tic, without waiting for it to occur, is called "massed negative practice" (see ref., or ref.). Dr. Levine calls his technique "contingent negative practice". Simple "massed practice" can help, but apparently takes a lot longer and is not as effective: "Patients have shown some decrease in tic frequency, but the long-term benefits of massed negative practice are unclear." (ref)

 

There is nothing magical about the number 10. Perhaps more would be better; perhaps less would be sufficient. But in the absence of any reason to the contrary, you should probably do 10.

 

An "accepting" attitude probably helps. If practicing the tic makes it go away, it follows somewhat logically that a contributing factor to the tic occurring in the first place was that the person was fighting against the tic. Hence, accepting the tic might be useful. Along similar lines, there are suggestions that tics are increased by anxiety, and that the fear of having a tic might increase anxiety. So it is useful to disrupt this feedback loop by taking the anxiety out of the tic."

 

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I thoroughly realize this is totally contradictory to the experts' advice of ignoring tics, but this philosophy intrigues me. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with anything like this?

 

Thank you!!

[Chemar]

it depends on what the tics are caused by

 

if they are Tourette Tics then they are involuntary neurological reactions and not behaviors, and so the tics themselves cannot be "cured" by behavioral therapy of the kind you describe IMHO

 

behavioral therapy can help with coping mechanisms related to tics, but has to be done very carefully as often drawing attention to a TS tic makes it manifest more strongly

 

most people with TS do "accept" their tics and often are less aware of them than others who are noticing them