TINNITUS-MANAGEMENT THERAPY (AMBULATORY)
With the help of this therapy the patient is supposed to classify the tinnitus as unimportant and thus reduce the associated fears and strengthen vitality. The personal perception decides whether someone finds a noise as intrusive or not. Once patients accept their tinnitus as annoying but harmless "tenant", they often succeed to befriend him or to see him as a warning signal.
As a part of <<swisstinnitus>>, the psychiatry Obwalden / Nidwalden provides ambulant psychological evaluation and psychotherapeutic treatment for patients with tinnitus as a useful addition to the more physically oriented evaluations and treatments.
At the beginning, there is an ambulant initial interview to capture the current situation as well as the need for treatment. This may take 1-3 sessions. Here, the tinnitus questionnaire by Goebel and Hiller is also applied which provides a spectrum of the impact of the tinnitus, ranging between light, moderate, severe and most serious. A psychotherapeutic treatment is recommended starting with moderate impact.
Afterwards, an individual treatment proposal is submitted to the patient. This, can include the recommendation to participate in a tinnitus retraining group therapy, individual psychotherapy or other treatment offers (respiratory therapy, relaxation techniques, methods of complementary medicine).
As part of a tinnitus retraining therapy, the patient discovers in 10-12 meetings within a group of other tinnitus-affected, important and helpful information for the understanding of tinnitus and how to deal with it. Incriminating and exonerating factors are also discussed as well as the role of thoughts and attention. Also methods for coping with stress are mediated. An indulgence training provides positive sensory experiences in everyday life.
The aim of all these efforts is to reduce the impact of the tinnitus on the life of the patient and to strengthen vitality.