The Audiologic Approach

[Guest guest]

The Misophonia Management Protocol Provider group met yesterday.

We have been working as a focus group for a year now. We are using an approach

to misophonia that uses sound therapy combined with cognitive therapy.

It is called the MMP, the misophonia management protocol.

Our group of 11 audiologists combined with various cognitive psychologists has

been providing the MMP to people all over the US.

Yesterday we reported initial data on patient outcomes, and the group as a whole

is using some variation with what sound therapy is used, and agreed that as a

whole group, people are better. No one was deemd to be worse, and using the

Misophonia Assessment Questionnaire, the MAQ, the number scored has improved for

most of the patients after using the MMP.

We made a list of other therpeutic approaches that have been reported by

patients, who may be using them simultaneously, or in the past, and these

included:

EMDR, CBT, NBF, hypnosis, relaxation training, chiropractic, and

yoga/meditation. These were the methods that were reported as having some

successful impact.

Auditory integration therapy has not been successful and hs been deemed to

actually have a negative impact on those suffering from decreased sound

tolerance.

The entire group reported on the number of patients who come in for evaluations,

compared to those who proceed to the MMP, and this number varied widely (from

10% to 95%).

Sound therapy devices that have been employed in the MMP include bilateral sound

generators, personal listening devices, cd players or tabletop noise makers,

headsets with earphones, and some hearing aids.

The group is compiling a list of places where helpful sound programs or

downloads can be obstained.

Finally, we are amassing our forces to complete our initial one year time period

by September 30, in order to create an 11 clinic database with an intention to

public our work in a peer reviewed auditory science journal.

This is really a very good example of how professional medical providers proceed

with creating new protocols for treatment purposes, and then assessing them. I

cannot emphasize enough how important it is to fully explore all possible

methods, but in a comprehensive and compassionate manner.

I hope these reports are useful. We discussed the idea of an annual Miso

conference and felt that this event belongs more in the arena of the new

Misophonia Association than the miso-provider group.

Finally, the group is hoping to have another similar group meeting with all the

involved psychologists and counselors in the near future.

Marsha , Audiologist