An Evaluation of the Mitchell Method of Simple Physiological Relaxation for Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis

The study described here to an evaluation of the Mitchell method of simple physiological relaxation in the reduction of muscle tension for women with rheumatoid arthritis. The findings indicate that this technique may reduce muscle tension and counteract the body position adopted when stressed.

A study of visualization and addiction treatment

Using a quasiexperimental design, in an intensive outpatient chemical dependency treatment program, this research compared a psychoeducational addiction treatment group with an intervention that combined progressive relaxation and visualization in a group setting. The progressive relaxation and visualization treatment consisted of six hour-long sessions that replaced psychoeducation treatment groups over the space of a 3-week period. The visualization group and the psychoeducation treatment groups were compared via pretest and posttest instruments to examine the impact of treatments on levels of emotional arousal, self-efficacy, and coping resources. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ), and the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) were used as part of the standardized measures. A total of 76 participants were involved in this study, which was conducted over an 8-month period. (As they entered treatment, participants were assigned to groups in a fashion that would maintain equivalency of group size.) Statistical tests determined that the nonrandomly assigned treatment groups were not significantly different from each other at the outset of the treatment interventions, t-tests and multivariate analysis of variance and covariance (MANOVA/MANCOVA) were used to examine the results of the study. The t-tests revealed that there were significant pretest/posttest differences (p < .05) for both groups on almost all the dependent measures. MANCOVA, using pretest levels of the dependent measures as the covariate, did not reveal significant differences between the two groups (i.e., both groups showed equal levels of improvement on the posttest measures). Also, there were outcome differences for individuals who achieved greater degrees of relaxation and increased involvement in visualization session. In conclusion, both psychoeducation and visualization treatments were equally effective in producing positive effects. Although there is little empirical research that evaluates the effectiveness of psychoeducation treatment provided by chemical dependency treatment programs, these findings support that psychoeducation treatment is producing positive treatment effects. Further research is needed to assess the incremental benefit of using visualization as an adjunct to psychoeducation treatment.