Tinnitus Management Training for CBT Therapists
Background in Brief
As noted earlier, the responsibility for tinnitus management has been left to Audiology even though skill sets for Audiologists and Hearing Therapists are very different.
Further, outcomes for the most recent research project I co-authored: The TinMan study: Feasibility Trial of a Psychologically Informed, Audiologist-Delivered, Manualised Intervention for Tinnitus are indicative of this missing skill set.
Although it is true that the training the participating audiologists received was inadequate in terms of both time (only 2 very intensive days) giving them no opportunity to practice either newly learned ways of working or indeed using the manual itself, the participating audiologists were very experienced audiologists and already had responsibility in their respective services for tinnitus patients. I hasten to add, this in no way is a reflection of the standard of training given or of the individual participating audiologists. It was simply not do-able, and this was a major outcome of the project itself, reported by the audiologists and researchers. It is also the main reason for making the CSTCP training online
Training CBT Therapists in the Management of Tinnitus
Already fully qualified and experienced, CBT Therapists have the skills and the experience of working with distressed clients. What they do NOT have is the clinical knowledge and understanding about tinnitus and related issues (associated anatomy, physiology, understanding audiometry, tinnitus causes and mechanisms etc).
Much research has already evidenced the effectiveness of using CBT in the management of tinnitus, and I have been using it in clinics for years. A list of published research is being compiled in this site Go To Research Page
It is hoped at some point that training will be made available for CBT Therapists in the management of tinnitus. The idea is still at Consultation level.