Thank you
@Michael Leigh . What will "tinnitus counseling" actually do (I will be googling the phrase shortly).
Tinnitus counselling can help a lot
@Kolisar Please read my post below.
Can tinnitus counselling help?
There are various kinds of treatments and coping methods for tinnitus that fit into four main categories:
Sound therapy,
medication,
counselling and
relaxation techniques. Most people are familiar with sound therapy. It has proven to be helpful relatively inexpensive and can easily be implemented. Medication such as clonazepam is known to help some people and will reduce the tinnitus to a low level or suppress it completely. Not always advisable to be taken long term due to dependency and unpleasant side effects that may result when taken in large dosages. Relaxation techniques including mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can be beneficial and is often group based.
I believe tinnitus counselling with or without sound therapy to be the best treatment in helping a person habituate. Whether they are a newbie or someone that has been seasoned to tinnitus for a while and noticed a resurgence in the condition for one reason or another. Some people are apprehensive about counselling and question its efficacy due to the fact we are all different. I have had counselling twice as part of TRT and found it helpful on both occasions. People have contacted me over the years saying they found it beneficial and helped put them on the road to habituation and were thankful having tried it.
It all depends what one expects from this kind of treatment and whether they will be able to find a suitable clinic that practices it. Perhaps more of a deciding factor and importance to some is the financial outlay. This treatment is not cheap and prices vary considerably especially when incorporated into TRT or CBT. Can it be justified when there is no guarantee of the level of success if any? That is something each person will have to decided for themselves, because it is too complex a question for me to answer.
I will say having had this condition for many years, that tinnitus is an integral part of our mental health and cannot be separate from it, because it has a direct impact on our emotions. The more stressed we become the more intrusive it will be. Anything that helps us to relax will usually have a positive impact on the tinnitus and make it more tolerable and less intrusive. Counselling with a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist trained in the management of tinnitus can be of immense help and should be considered especially if a person is having difficulty coping and is already taking an antidepressant or similar medication.
People have asked me how can counselling lower the tinnitus? Again, we are all different, but I advise anyone with this thinking to try and not be too negative. Of course be prudent and ask questions but approach it with an open mind as it can be all to easy to convince themselves that it won't work, so you could be setting yourself up for failure before you have even begun. A therapist works with a patient is a specific way. First discussing how the tinnitus makes them feel and how it has impacted on their life. Often people say they have lost interest in the things they once liked doing, which is understandable. Those they are close to particularly loved one's don't understand what they are going through which can put a lot of to strain on a relationship.
Through talk therapy a person learns to look at life differently and with a more positive outlook. Over time the negative thinking that is often associated with tinnitus is gradually dispelled and demystified. The therapist does this in a controlled and precise manner so that the patient feels relaxed and not pressured. In many instances the tinnitus is gradually pushed further into the background making it less prominent.
I believe this is best done with a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist who has been trained in the management of tinnitus. Often these people have tinnitus or experienced it at some time in their life. Therefore, they will have a depth of understanding and be able to empathize with a patient rather than someone who is just a counsellor and having no experience with this condition.
Michael
Member
