Treatment 

More information about our unique brief strategic therapy

Our unique treatment at Clinique des TOC®

Brief strategic therapy (BST) has shown the most effective results in the treatment of most forms of psychological suffering (Gibson et al., 2013, 2014 and Nardone, 1995). We have now formulated specific treatment protocols centered on our unique clinical dialogue and therapeutic interventions which have been created by adopting a scientific, empirical and experimental method to validate our treatment and to verify the results.

The Advanced Model of Brief Strategic Therapy: Principles and Techniques

The strategic approach evolved from sciences such as the theory of communication developed by Gregory Bateson, from the constructivist theory of Dr. Heinz Von Foerster, Dr. Ernst Von Glasferld and from the scientific developments of the cybernetic theory of Von Neumann and Brad Keeney and original work from the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, California over 60 years ago.

More recently, Professor Giorgio Nardone led the evolution of what was known as the Palo Alto School, also known as the Mental Research Institute - MRI, which was responsible for the creation of brief therapy. Professor Giorgio Nardone, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Watzlawick of Stanford's Department of MRI and Psychiatry, developed an advanced form of therapeutic technology known today as Brief Strategic Therapy (BST).

Our processing model is explained in our book Winning Without Fighting: The Handbook of Effective Solutions to Social, Emotional and Behavioral Problems available on Amazon and from Malta University Press. This book was written by the directors of the OCD Clinic® International Dr. Claudette Portelli and Dr. Matteo Papantuono and Dr. Padraic Gibson. The model is also explained in the seminal text The Art of Change (Nardone and Watzlawick, 1990).

Solve problems

A fundamental concept of Advanced Brief Strategic Therapy is that when a problem or difficulty arises in life, people tend to try to deal with it by applying a specific solution that may have worked in the past. These attempts can either change the problem or maintain and exacerbate it.

We believe that psychological problems are the result of a dysfunctional or unnecessary way of perceiving and responding to a situation or problem. This pointless attempt to solve a problem, when repeated over time and in different places, creates what we call a perceptual-reactive system (Gibson et al. 2014, 2016; Nardone and Portelli, 2005). The perceptual-reactive system can be defined as 'repeated ways in which an individual perceives and consequently reacts to his own reality in his relationship with himself, with others and with the world' (p. 55) Portelli, Papantuono and Gibson).

Rigorous and scientific treatment

Our unique treatment model at the OCD Clinic ® allows specific interventions to be planned and applied precisely tailored to multiple problems in different settings (Nardone, Verbitz, & Milanese, 1999).

What our clinical interventions have in common is the use of non-ordinary logic (i.e. we avoid simplistic common sense solutions that don't work). Our clinical interventions are designed and selected according to the difficulty of the patient and the objective he seeks to achieve (Nardone and Watzlawick, 2005). Thus, therapy becomes a process of strategic problem solving where, like in a game of chess, experienced players always keep in mind what strategy will lead to success as they respond to the changing game.

In other words, the potential reaction to each intervention we use is predictable and technical and we only modify the strategy based on its observed effects. So if it works we continue, if not we modify the strategy until the patient is free of the problem or has achieved their goal. In doing so, we adopt a process of continuous self-correction based solely on positive patient outcomes.

Treatment of OCD: Being illogical to be more logical

At Clinique des TOC®, we have embraced the use of what we call non-ordinary logic (Portelli, Gibson, & Papantuono, 2014: Nardone & Balbi 2014). The logic of any problem, in simple terms, is how a patient comes to a conclusion or decides to act and has been studied for centuries in science, but never until now in psychology and psychotherapy.

In the case of a patient suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, using reason and rational logic or common sense, convincing him to change will not help him to stop his pathological rituals and will not necessarily lead to any result at all. , this can even lead to make matters worse. However, treatment based on the same non-ordinary logic as the OCD problem will lead to a quick and successful resolution of the problem.

OCD Clinic® Treatment and Current Psychological Treatments for OCD

At OCD Clinic®, we use a scientific, evidence-based treatment model called Brief Strategic Therapy®, which through rigorous research and practice has been successful in 88% of cases treated with 10-15 sessions of therapy. Our clinical team at the OCD Clinic ® have published their own research on OCD outcomes in the renowned British Medical Journal available online.

What is the difference between treatment at Clinique du TOC ® and cognitive behavioral therapy?

The most widely used and studied alternative treatment model for obsessive-compulsive disorder is the cognitive-behavioral approach, which has been shown to be effective and can be between 30% and 50% successful in reducing symptoms of OCD. However, according to one of its creators, many patients will continue to live with significant impairment most of their lives (Abramowitz 1998).

CBT treatment also typically involves exposure and ritual prevention which is basically finding ways to get the patient to resist their rituals while exposed to feared situations. It is often for this reason that so many patients abandon treatment, fail or relapse. This treatment often forces the patient to undergo very stressful situations and requires long therapy sessions with the intensive involvement of the therapist (Boncheck, 2009).

A short story

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is best represented by a story told by one of our pioneers, Professor Paul Watzlawick: "One day a psychiatrist is in the hospital and comes across a patient who claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked about the reason for this strange behavior, he explains: "I do it to scare the elephants".

When told there were no elephants in the hospital, the man responded by saying, “Well, there you go. See?' it works”, although this seems absurd to those unfamiliar with non-ordinary logic, at The OCD Clinic® we understand and are very familiar with the rigid logic that underlies such a problem and our study of this logic has allowed us to create an effective and efficient treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder.