Published – ACT for non-epileptic seizures

Red Admiral

The article Dr Naomi Boycott and I wrote about using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the treatment of non-epileptic seizures was recently published in the British Psychological Society’s Clinical Psychology Forum (Issue 347). It focuses on a service we developed for people who experience non-epileptic seizures, seeing people individually and in groups.

We felt that ACT was an especially appropriate model for helping people to manage their non-epileptic seizures for various reasons. These included the focus on living a life in a way that does justice to our values, the use of mindfulness processes to increase present-moment awareness and reducing experiential avoidance, as well as the emphasis on pain being a necessary part of living a full life. Russ Harris’s excellent Embracing Your Demons article gives a concise overview of ACT. We found that the model was generally well accepted. We also brought in strategies from more traditional CBT approaches and Compassion-Focussed Therapy as well as systemic and psychodynamic ways of formulating and working.

We found a range of resources that proved useful along the way. Here’s a selection of them:

Dis-Sociated – a documentary by Clea Martin:


Apps

myFND – a clear and simple app for people who experience functional symptoms

Neurosymptoms FND Guide – an app version of Prof John Stone’s very informative Neurosymptoms website

Smiling Mind – a high quality free mindfulness app with meditations for people across the whole age range, and focussed on a variety of concerns


Books

View From The Floor by Kate Berger

Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures: A Guide by Lorna Myers

Not There – a Graphic Novel about non-epileptic seizures


Websites

Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures – an informative website edited by a wide range of experts in the field

Non-Epileptic Attacks – a UK-based site

FND Hope

Neurosymptoms

By charlie

I have worked therapeutically with people for over a decade across a wide range of settings, helping individuals, couples, families and groups across the full age range address their concerns with anxiety and mood, sleep, chronic health conditions and other issues.If you are considering therapy, please get in touch via the Contact Me page and we have an initial 20 minute consultation for free by phone or video call to discuss your concerns, and see if you would like to proceed with me.Psychological support offers the opportunity to introduce another mind to help with processing experiences or information that might be too emotionally charged to work through alone.