Imagery Rescripting for Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Multiple-Baseline Single-Case Experimental Design

Abstract

Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) often experience negative distorted images of their appearance, and research suggests these may be linked to memories of adverse events such as bullying or teasing. This study evaluates imagery re-scripting (ImR) as an intervention for BDD. In this article we present a multiple-baseline single case experimental design testing imagery re-scripting as a brief, standalone intervention, with six individuals with BDD that related to aversive memories. The impact of the intervention was assessed by self-reported daily measures of symptom severity (preoccupation with appearance; appearance-related checking behaviors; appearance related distress; strength of belief that their main problem is their appearance) and standardized clinician ratings of BDD severity (Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for BDD). Four out of six of the participants responded positively to the intervention, with clinically meaningful improvement in their symptomatology. Overall response was rapid; improvements began within the first week post ImR intervention. From a small sample it is cautiously concluded that imagery rescripting may show promise as a module in cognitive behavior therapy for BDD, and is worthy of further investigation.

Safety and efficacy of a defecation care algorithm based on ultrasonographic bowel observation in Japanese home‐care settings: a single‐case, multiple‐baseline study

“…The weighted average reflects the proportion of data that is non-overlapping between phases, across all cases. 17 We also analyzed each outcome after exclusion of patients that showed a value of zero throughout the 10-week study period.…”

“…The data were first graphed according to standard presentation in a single‐case design experiment. Differences between phases were assessed by statistical analysis . For visual analysis, we determined whether intervention had effected an observable change in the dependent variable .…”

“…This is the “weighted average,” in which “weight” is the inverse of the variance of the test statistic (http://www.singlecaseresearch.org/calculators/tau-u). The weighted average reflects the proportion of data that is non‐overlapping between phases, across all cases . We also analyzed each outcome after exclusion of patients that showed a value of zero throughout the 10‐week study period.…”

Imagery Rescripting for PTSD and Personality Disorders: Theory and Application

“…Keywords Imagery rescripting Á Schema therapy Á Cognitive therapy Á Personality disorders Á PTSD Imagery Rescripting is a psychotherapy technique that has been integrated into Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) interventions to treat various psychiatric populations including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Arntz et al 2013;Grunert et al 2003Grunert et al , 2007Hagenaars and Arntz 2012;Long et al 2011), personality disorders (Young et al 2003), specific phobias (Hunt and Fenton 2007), depression (Brewin et al 2009;Wheatley et al 2007), obsessivecompulsive disorder (Speckens et al 2007;Veale et al 2015), social phobia (Frets et al 2014;Reimer and Moscovitch 2015;Wild et al 2007), body dysmorphic disorder (Willson et al 2015) and suicide risk (Holmes et al 2007b).…”

Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Hypnotherapy on Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Case Study

“…In clinical practice, patients with BDD are usually considered as resistant to treatment, and many fail to respond or even make a complete recovery [9]. Cognitive behavioral model of BDD emphasizes the role of imagination on maintenance of disorder [10][11][12].…”