GOAL SPECIFICATION IN COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR CHRONIC HEADACHE PAIN

Setting goals for coping that are based on time enhances subjects' ability to withstand painful stimuli in laboratory analog studies. This study sought to determine whether explicit time goals for using coping strategies would enhance treatment outcome in a clinical population. Subjects were 33 patients with chronic headache assigned to one of three 6-week groups: a goal group, given specific time goals for using coping strategies; an open group, given instructions to use strategies for as long as possible; and a waiting-list control group. Both treatment groups showed greater use of pain coping skills at posttreatment than the control group. Subjects with time goals reported lower headache activity and reported reductions in nonnarcotic medication use, whereas the control and open groups did not. The study suggests that goal specification can enhance the general efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment of chronic headache pain.