Followup to Feb. 1st group meeting

On Thursday Feb. 1, the DC/MD support group met at Potomac Audiology in the space provided by Dr. Gail Linn.  There were 13 of us, who varied widely in terms of their length of time since onset of their Tinnitus (from 1 month to decades). Once again we were fortunate to have ATA Board Chair Dr. LaGuinn Sherlock join us.  Dr. Lynne Gots, Cognitive Behavior Therapist, was our speaker.  Her talk is here. CBT has been found to be an effective approach to treat Tinnitus/Hyperacusis symptoms, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Clinical Practice Guideline (2014).  Interestingly, Dr. Gots mentioned that compared to her other patients, Tinnitus sufferers are reluctant to embrace CBT.  She believes when Tinnitus sufferers are new to the affliction, they are searching for a cure. CBT provides tools for symptom management, not a cure.  

Dr. Gots explained that CBT as a field has recently been advocating (among other things) mindfulness techniques. She mentioned a smartphone App that her CBT patients find helpful:  Headspace. She also referred us to free guided-meditation downloads available from UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. After her talk, Dr. Gots led the group in a short guided meditation and discussion, which was followed by snack/conversation time.  An ATA article about the latest trends in CBT is here. Also an ATA magazine article featuring an interview with Dr. Gots is here.  

Please feel free to put a comment below this blog post, or to email TinnitusDC@gmail.com with ideas and suggestions for the next meeting.  So far, interest has been shown in pharmacology, and hypnosis.