2022 Volume 62 Issue 1 Pages 70-78
It is well-known that chronic tinnitus is difficult to mitigate when anxiety and depression coexist, and cognitive-behavioral therapy is recommended as a treatment. In this study, we report the effectiveness of a program incorporating martial arts elements into acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a third-generation cognitive-behavioral therapy, for a woman in her 40s with chronic tinnitus who failed to reach remission through tinnitus retraining therapy. Eight ACT sessions incorporating martial arts elements were conducted for 90 minutes every week. The maximum intervention effect was achieved after six months, and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory improved to a score indicating no handicap. In this case, it was considered that the incorporated martial arts elements effectively promoted each ACT process. To date, there have been no reports of ACT that employed physical experience or physical manipulation of martial arts as experiential exercises, and to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to do so.
