The Effectiveness of Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy on Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures: A Case Study

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are periods of distress with sensory, psychomotor and behavioral symptoms that resemble epileptic seizures but electrophysiological correlated variations of these attacks are not commensurate to epilepsy. This disorder has a significant impact on daily-life activities and leads to poor quality of life. This study aimed to examine efficacy of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) on improvement of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. This study was an empirical case study with AB design. Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures were confirmed in subjects using QEEG and assessments of a neurologist and a psychiatrist. Beck depression inventory (BDI) was filled out by the subjects before and after the interventions. Eight Psychotherapy sessions with ISTDP approach were individually held once a week. Outcomes indicated that PNES disappeared. Furthermore, post-test BDI scores were significantly lower comparing to pre-test scores. Outcomes suggest that intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy is an appropriate approach to reduce psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and it's applicable by therapists in clinical settings.