Behavioral Medicine Methods in Treatment of Somatic Conditions

Abstract

Background: The aim of this article is to present a short review of noninvasive, nonpharmacological treatment methods used in somatic illnesses that fall under the umbrella of approach called behavioral medicine.

Methods: The narrative review method was applied in the study. Science paper databases, including PubMed, had been used to retrieve papers on therapeutic methods used in clinical setting that meet the broad criteria of behavioral medicine definition as stated in the Charter of International Behavioral Medicine Society.

Results: Main groups of methods, disorders in which they are being employed and their effectiveness, have been identified.

Conclusions: Behavioral medicine is grouping treatment methods and interventions that hold large potential for clinical setting. Two groups of methods can be distinguished by the scrutiny and level of evidence gathered in their effectiveness assessment; for biofeedback, guided imagery, and hypnosis techniques, comprehensive evidence reports in the framework of U.S. Evidence Synthesis Program exist. Meditation techniques, disclosure therapies, and relaxation methods are less well assessed. Broader employment of behavioral medicine therapies in clinical setting is possible after addressing two major problems in the field, which are deficiencies in quality evidence of effectiveness for many of the methods and their insufficiencies in underlying therapeutic mechanism knowledge.