Imaginal retraining
Imaginal Retraining is a self-help technique developed for people with strong cravings for addictive substances such as alcohol, nicotine, or high-calorie foods (including sweets).
The technique is based on the approach-avoidance-task (AAT), a computerized experimental paradigm from psychology used to diagnose and change implicit behavioral reponse tendencies.[1] In the conventional version, a computer screen displays images that trigger craving as well as neutral images that the participants have to push away or draw towards themselves using a joystick. In doing so, the images become smaller or larger (zooming out or in). In the diagnostic version of the AAT, the reaction time of the participants is recorded. People with a strong craving for certain substances often show a pathological approach bias that manifests in fast reaction times when pictures of substances they crave are to be approached and in slow reaction times when these pictures are to be pushed away. In the therapeutic version of the AAT (also called approach-avoidance training, a form of cognitive bias modification), participants are instructed to push away images of substances they crave and pull neutral images closer.[2] In Imaginal Retraining, these approach and avoidance movements are performed in the imagination. This offers the advantage that the images can be customized, thus enhancing the effect of the intervention. In addition, a computer is not needed for implementation, which facilitates execution in everyday life. The manual for imaginal retraining is available in German and English for several substances (see External links below).
The efficacy of the intervention has been demonstrated in several randomized-controlled intervention studies in people with problematic alcohol consumption,[3] overweight individuals,[4] and smokers[5] as well as in experimental studies;[6] these studies demonstrated a decrease in craving as well as in consumption of the targeted substance. A direct comparison with the computerized version is pending. The long-term efficacy of the approach is in progress.
External links[edit]
- Retraining in sensu - self-help technique for reducing substance craving (free download from the website of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)
References[edit]
- ↑ Loijen, Anke; Vrijsen, Janna N.; Egger, Jos I.M.; Becker, Eni S.; Rinck, Mike (2020). "Biased approach-avoidance tendencies in psychopathology: A systematic review of their assessment and modification". Clinical Psychology Review. 77: 101825. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101825.
- ↑ Rinck, Mike; Becker, Eni S. (2007). "Approach and avoidance in fear of spiders". Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 38 (2): 105–120. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2006.10.001. PMID 17126289.
- ↑ Moritz, Steffen; Paulus, Alia Marie; Hottenrott, Birgit; Weierstall, Roland; Gallinat, Jürgen; Kühn, Simone (2019). "Imaginal retraining reduces alcohol craving in problem drinkers: A randomized controlled trial". Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 64: 158–166. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.04.001. PMID 31071483.
- ↑ Moritz, Steffen; Göritz, Anja S.; Schmotz, Stella; Weierstall-Pust, Roland; Gehlenborg, Josefine; Gallinat, Jürgen; Kühn, Simone (2019). "Imaginal retraining decreases craving for high-calorie food in overweight and obese women: A randomized controlled trial". Translational Psychiatry. 9 (1): 319. doi:10.1038/s41398-019-0655-7. ISSN 2158-3188. PMC 6883071 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 31780640. - ↑ Moritz, Steffen; Göritz, Anja S.; Kraj, Moana; Gehlenborg, Josefine; Hottenrott, Birgit; Tonn, Peter; Ascone, Leonie; Pedersen, Anya; Kühn, Simone (2020). "Imaginal Retraining Reduces Cigarette Smoking: A Randomized Controlled Study". European Addiction Research. 26 (6): 355–364. doi:10.1159/000509823. ISSN 1022-6877. PMID 32877910 Check
|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Moritz, Steffen; Gehlenborg, Josefine; Wirtz, Janina; Ascone, Leonie; Kühn, Simone (2021). "A dismantling study on imaginal retraining in smokers". Translational Psychiatry. 11 (1): 92. doi:10.1038/s41398-020-01191-9. ISSN 2158-3188. PMC 7854587 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 33531467 Check|pmid=value (help).
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