Psychological Management of Chronic Headaches

by Paul R. Martin

Most people have experienced headaches at one time or another. However, a significant proportion of the population suffers from headaches intense enough to be physically debilitating. Providing a detailed account of how to assess and treat migraines, tension-type, and combined or mixed headaches, this comprehensive volume goes beyond the acknowledged stress-headache relationship to consider a wide variety of stimuli that may trigger them.
The book presents a functional approach to management that emphasizes controlling factors that determine the changes in headache activity. A treatment plan that includes treatment parameters, relapse prevention techniques, and the educational component of the program is presented. Strategies that focus on headache phenomena as well as those designed to control headache variables are included. Taking into account the psychosocial and developmental context, treatment is driven by the results of the functional assessment, which allows for a much more individualized approach. Illustrative case examples are included.
Of special note are useful appendices that feature a Headache Classification System, Diagnostic Guidelines for Use with the Psychological Assessment of Headache Questionnaire, and a Preassessment Patient Information Sheet.

266 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 1993

About the author

Paul Martin was educated at Cambridge University and at Stanford University, California, where he was Harkness Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. He lectured and researched in behavioural biology at Cambridge University, and was a Fellow of Wolfson College, before leaving academia to pursue other interests including science writing.