The Effects of Behaviour Relaxation Training on Adults with Profound Multiple Disabilities: A Preliminary Study on Treatment Effectiveness

Abstract

are all associated with Tayside Area Clinical Psychology Department, Dundee Healthcare NHS Trust. This paper investigates the use of behavioural relaxation with subjects who have profound learning disability and concomitant handicaps. Behavioural relaxation training is a simple psychological procedure where subjects are encouraged to adopt a relaxed posture. Ratings of relaxation were taken after each session and subjects were also assessed for the amount of time they spent on task in an occupational activity. Five people participated in the study. Two showed consistent improvements with the procedures, one showed improvement on rated relaxation but no improvement in engaging in the task, and two people showed no response to the treatment.

Psychological therapies for people with intellectual disabilities: comments on a Matrix of evidence for interventions in challenging behaviour

“…Lindsay et al . , ); Incorrect population – all the sample were children (e.g. Carr & Durand ; Durand & Carr ; Fisher et al .…”

“…Schilling & Poppen 1983;Durand & Carr 1991;Lowe et al 1996); • Incorrect population -not a study where the target problem was challenging behaviour (e.g. Lindsay et al 1989Lindsay et al , 1996; • Incorrect population -all the sample were children (e.g. Carr & Durand 1985;Durand & Carr 1991;Fisher et al 1998;Durand 1999;Hudson et al 2003;Lopata 2003); • Duplicate studies where there was an included paper at a higher level of evidence; • Papers to be reviewed in the full Matrix under a separate heading, but not in the Matrix of challenging behaviour; for example, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was included in a separate part of the published Matrix under the diagnostic/problem category of 'Anger Management', rather than challenging behaviour (Taylor et al 2002(Taylor et al , 2005Willner et al 2002;Hagiliassis et al 2005); • Interventions specific to short-term management, rather than longer-term treatment of challenging behaviour (Campbell 2010); • Audits, rather than reviews/meta-analyses (e.g.…”

Modern Therapeutic Approaches in Learning Disability Services

“…Researchers have mainly neglected anger, aggression and learning disability, even though they are a major area of need. The Jahoda et al (2001) literature review on this subject included behavioural and cognitive behavioural approaches and the concept of the self and concludes that, while behavioural approaches have made advances in successfully treating individuals with severe learning disabilities (Lindsay et al, 1996), there is a leaning towards cognitive behavioural therapy in work with people with mild to moderate learning disabilities.…”

“…Clearly a cognitively impaired person will have fewer and less complex thoughts, but this does not mean that they cannot explore them, where they came from, and how helpful or not they may be. Relaxation, as an essential part of this process, is also showing real benefits (Hegarty & Last, 1997;Lindsay et al, 1996). Recognising when your body is tense and then consciously making it relax is within the skill repertoire of most disabled people.…”

Effects of Four Therapy Procedures on Communication in People with Profound Intellectual Disabilities

“…Lindsay & Baty (1986) piloted the use of BRT with individuals with moderate and severe IDs, and showed the technique to be of benefit to this client group. Lindsay et al . (1996) have recently extended this research to include individuals with profound IDs.…”