Significant Improvement in a Pain Disorder after an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention with an Emphasis on Mindfulness: A Case Study

Abstract

The present case report describes improvement in a pain disorder after the application of an acceptance and commitment therapy intervention with an emphasis on mindfulness. Initially, the female patient exhibited several experiential avoidance behaviors to continuous somatic symptoms and pain, such as frequently visiting multiple medical institutions. The patient presented with depression due to rumination and worry, increased hypersensitivity to somatic symptoms, and reduction in a range of behaviors, such as housework. During treatment, the mindfulness intervention of observing one’s present experiences openly was emphasized with cognitive defusion, which enabled the patient to distance herself from her thoughts and to prevent an association between her current experience and her past failures or future worries, and with acceptance, which enabled her to observe her present experience without avoidance. After the intervention, self-as-process and self-as-context were acquired, which enabled the monitoring and suspension of her habitual actions and thoughts; moreover, the range of behaviors that gained positive reinforcement in her daily life increased, together with an acceptance of her somatic symptoms, and her trait anxiety and depression decreased.