WEDNESDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- In children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome, adding videotape training to self-hypnosis instruction is associated with improvements in tic control after very few sessions, according to a case series reported in the July/August issue of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
Jeffrey Lazarus, M.D., and Susan K. Klein, M.D., of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, analyzed 33 cases of children and adolescents (aged 6 to 19) with Tourette syndrome who were trained in self-hypnosis. As part of the intervention protocol, each patient viewed videos of a young boy undergoing self-hypnosis training; the patients then received therapy sessions, including individualized self-hypnosis training.
The researchers found that 79 percent of the patients who received this training achieved tic control over a mean six-week follow-up. Of these individuals, 46 percent achieved tic control through self-hypnosis after two sessions and 96 percent did so after three sessions.
"Instruction in self-hypnosis, aided by the use of videotape training, augments a protocol and probably shortens the time of training in this technique. If self-hypnosis is made more accessible in this way, it will be a valuable addition to multidisciplinary management of tic disorders in Tourette syndrome," the authors write.
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