Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Brain-Gut Connection [Hardcover]

Brenda B. Toner PhD (Author), Zindel V. Segal PhD (Author), Zindel V. Segal (Author), Brenda B. Toner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 157230135X | ISBN-13: 978-1572301351 | Publication Date: November 12, 1999 | Edition: 1

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder, causing pain, discomfort, and embarrassment to millions. While medically based treatments have demonstrated only limited effectiveness, recent research strongly supports the role of psychosocial factors in both symptom expression and symptom control. This book presents a brief cognitive-behavioral treatment approach that is suitable for use with individuals or groups. Delineating a clear medical rationale, the authors help clinicians both to reduce the stigma associated with IBS and to overcome client resistance to psychological treatment. Effective techniques are outlined for helping clients manage anxiety, anger, and shame; enhance their self-efficacy and stress management skills; and alleviate gastrointestinal distress. Session-by-session guidelines are illuminated by such useful features as sample therapist-client dialogues, lists of important points to cover, troubleshooting tips, and examples of recommended handouts and forms. Also covered in depth are treatment issues specific to women.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This groundbreaking volume integrates the latest scientific and clinical information about a disorder that has been too long ignored in the literature. Varied and interesting chapters cover little-known research as well as novel CBT applications. I particularly appreciated the authors' gender-related analysis, as well as the specific applied exercises, forms, and suggestions for interrupting the cycle of pain and psychological distress. Researchers, students, teachers, and clinicians from both medical and applied social science disciplines will find a wealth of useful information in this excellent volume. I welcome and applaud this outstanding contribution." --Judith Worell, PhD, University of Kentucky

"This book is unique for two reasons. First, it explains for the first time how gender socialization and abuse can contribute to the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which affects women far more than men, and shows how to incorporate gender issues into treatment. Second, the authors are able to draw upon their experience conducting two large-scale controlled trials of cognitive-behavioral therapy for IBS to provide concrete, practical guidelines for therapists. This book will be invaluable to clinicians and should become a required text for training clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in the management of IBS and other functional somatic complaints." --William E. Whitehead, PhD, Co-Director, University of North Carolina Center for Gastrointestinal Functional and Motility Disorders

"This book effectively presents an empirically supported treatment--in both individual and group formats--for a surprisingly common stress-related somatic problem. Irritable Bowel Syndrome has heretofore received too little attention, owing to the shame, gender bias, and minimization processes that the authors describe and combat so well. This text will be highly useful for advanced graduate students, as well as seasoned researchers and clinicians in the often overlapping fields of cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavioral medicine." --Cory F. Newman, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Director, Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania

"As the field of medicine moves toward a more integrated, biopsychosocial understanding of illness and disease and toward a relationship-centered plan of care, persons with IBS and other functional somatic syndromes are likely to benefit. This book paves the way toward that understanding and also provides the means to accomplish that goal." --From the Foreword by Douglas A. Drossman, MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

From the Back Cover

This book is unique for two reasons. First, it explains for the first time how gender socialization and abuse can contribute to the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which affects women far more than men, and shows how to incorporate gender issues into treatment. Second, the authors are able to draw upon their experience conducting two large-scale controlled trials of cognitive-behavioral therapy for IBS to provide concrete, practical guidelines for therapists. This book will be invaluable to clinicians and should become a required text for training clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in the management of IBS and other functional somatic complaints (William E. Whitehead, PhD, Co-Director, University of North Carolina Center for Gastrointestinal Functional and Motilitiy Disorders).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (November 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157230135X
• ISBN-13: 978-1572301351
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, June 13, 2000

By 

catherine crane (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Brain-Gut Connection (Hardcover)

Written by Brenda Toner and her colleagues, who have worked extensively on psychosocial aspects of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), this manual provides a thorough, yet accessible, introduction to the current understanding of IBS and cognitive behavioural approaches to its treatment.

One of the particularly interesting aspects of the book is the attention paid to gender socialisation and social stigma as factors which may help to explain both the high proportion of female IBS outpatients and some of the central concerns of the patient group. After summarising current research into the biological, psychological and social factors that contribute to the disorder the second half of the book outlines the cognitive behavioural therapy program developed and implemented by the Toronto group. A detailed outline of session themes and session content is included. Case studies and sample scripts are used throughout making this book clear and interesting to read.

Beyond its use as a manual to guide health care professionals in the management and treatment of patients with IBS, this book provides a great insight into the nature of the disorder and the impact it has on patient's psychological state and day to day lives.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective, user-friendly program for IBS, June 9, 2001

By 

Dr. Signe A. Dayhoff "Social Effectiveness Gu... (New Mexico USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Brain-Gut Connection (Hardcover)

While this book is written for practitioners, it provides information and insight which can be useful for the sufferer of irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) as well. This may be especially true for many of the over 20 million individuals in the US alone who suffer from social anxiety disorder - a fear of being negatively evaluated and humiliated in social situations - who suffer from this painful and embarrassing disorder as well.

Given that the diseased-based biomedical model can't adequately account for these gastrointestinal symptoms and their psychological effects, it is gratifying to see an empirically-supported cognitive-behavioral treatment for IBS which is effective.

In addition to its gender and social context issues, its comprehensive set of treatment recommendations includes emphasis on coping with shame, anger, assertiveness, self-efficacy, social approval, perfectionism, control, self-nuturance, and performance anxiety. To assist the therapist in facilitating the client's learning, the book also includes recommendations, troubleshooting guides, common problems and myths, case histories, scripts, and client-therapist dialogues.

This is an excellent volume on a condition which heretofore has received little attention.

4.0 out of 5 stars Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, June 16, 2009

By 

Nin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Brain-Gut Connection (Hardcover)

Good book on using CBT for the treatment of IBS.

The Good: The book contains several chapters on IBS and the CBT conceptualisation of IBS. The IBS "patient themes" that Toner and her colleagues have identified as being personality characteristics that are typical of IBS patients are excellent and are necessary topics to cover/ work on in therapy. The chapters detailing the treatment sessions are informative and provide a brief guide on what to do during the particular session. Scripts for the therapist are also provided in some chapters, which help therapists grasp how to explain things to the client, such as the CBT explanation for IBS symptoms.

What Could Be Improved: Initially, I thought the book would contain detailed, step-by-step information pertaining to how to conduct each therapy session. This is not the case. Unfortunately, only a brief amount of information is provided and the session topics are only covered in point-form. A typical set of session instructions include things like "cover this topic in detail before moving on to the next topic"-- hence at times no real direction is provided. Also, Toner and her colleagues tend to refer to other resources for strategies that are central to their own treatment program. For example, although relaxation training is a central feature of the treatment, the authors refer to another source for the relaxation exercise, leaving the reader to try to locate that source as it is not contained in the book. The book is also quite short for a treatment manual. The authors say nothing about what to do should problems arise or if the treatment does not seem to be working.

I would recommend this book to all therapists who work with individuals with IBS or other psychosomatic/ health anxiety concerns as it does a good job at presenting the CBT conceptualisation of such problems.