Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.

The relatively small behavioural literature available contains a number of encouraging reports evidencing the effectiveness of paradoxical intention therapy as a treatment for sleep onset insomnia. This present paper contributes a further six case studies of chronic insomniacs, referred for treatmen...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Espie, C, Lindsay, W
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 1985
_version_ 1797056553859153920
author Espie, C
Lindsay, W
author_facet Espie, C
Lindsay, W
author_sort Espie, C
collection OXFORD
description The relatively small behavioural literature available contains a number of encouraging reports evidencing the effectiveness of paradoxical intention therapy as a treatment for sleep onset insomnia. This present paper contributes a further six case studies of chronic insomniacs, referred for treatment within the context of a major treatment comparison study, who were randomly allocated to receive paradoxical intention. Therapy typically lasted for 8 weeks, consisting of two 4-week phases, the first of which involved a counterdemand manipulation designed to control for demand and expectancy factors. Considerable variability in response to therapy was observed, with 3 patients obtaining a rapid reduction in sleep onset latency while the sleep pattern of the 3 other Ss was significantly exacerbated. Although 1 S from this latter group did improve after several weeks treatment, the other 2 Ss were ultimately successfully treated with progressive relaxation training having been unable to persevere with paradoxical intention. These results are discussed with reference to previous research and the consideration of individual patient characteristics. © 1985.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T19:24:17Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:1b2e956f-5525-4b3a-95ed-040fff9f5abc
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T19:24:17Z
publishDate 1985
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:1b2e956f-5525-4b3a-95ed-040fff9f5abc2022-03-26T10:59:00ZParadoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1b2e956f-5525-4b3a-95ed-040fff9f5abcEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford1985Espie, CLindsay, WThe relatively small behavioural literature available contains a number of encouraging reports evidencing the effectiveness of paradoxical intention therapy as a treatment for sleep onset insomnia. This present paper contributes a further six case studies of chronic insomniacs, referred for treatment within the context of a major treatment comparison study, who were randomly allocated to receive paradoxical intention. Therapy typically lasted for 8 weeks, consisting of two 4-week phases, the first of which involved a counterdemand manipulation designed to control for demand and expectancy factors. Considerable variability in response to therapy was observed, with 3 patients obtaining a rapid reduction in sleep onset latency while the sleep pattern of the 3 other Ss was significantly exacerbated. Although 1 S from this latter group did improve after several weeks treatment, the other 2 Ss were ultimately successfully treated with progressive relaxation training having been unable to persevere with paradoxical intention. These results are discussed with reference to previous research and the consideration of individual patient characteristics. © 1985.
spellingShingle Espie, C
Lindsay, W
Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title_full Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title_fullStr Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title_full_unstemmed Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title_short Paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia: six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response.
title_sort paradoxical intention in the treatment of chronic insomnia six case studies illustrating variability in therapeutic response
work_keys_str_mv AT espiec paradoxicalintentioninthetreatmentofchronicinsomniasixcasestudiesillustratingvariabilityintherapeuticresponse
AT lindsayw paradoxicalintentioninthetreatmentofchronicinsomniasixcasestudiesillustratingvariabilityintherapeuticresponse