ריצ’רד גבירץ Richard Gevirtz : פסיכולוגיה רפואית, ביופידבק ורפואת גוף ונפש

מאמר קצר זה נכתב כהכנה לאפשרות להביא את ריצרד גבירץ לארץ, כחלק מחשיבה לעודד מטפלים להשתמש בעקרונות פסיכופיזיולוגים. המאמר מכוון בעיקר למטפלי CBT שנרתעים  להשתמש בטכנולוגיה, וכן לאנשים שגדלו בתחום הפסיכולוגיה הרפואית בארץ – ומשום מה לא משתמשים בידע פסיכופיזיולוגי. ריצ'רד גבירץ מייצג חשיבה מחקרים וקלינית יחד עם מבט הוליסטי על הפרעות נפשיות וגופניות.

פרופ גבירץ מתואר בקצרה באתר הבא

Richard N. Gevirtz, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego. His research and practice in recent years has focused on psychophysiological mechanisms and treatment of disorders affected by the autonomic nervous system, such as IBS, Non-Cardiac Chest Pain, TMD, Headache, and other muscle pain syndromes. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters.

רשימה חלקית של פרסומיו אפשר למצוא כאן: פרסומים של ריצ'רד גבירץ אסתפק כאן בלציין כמה מהם.

  • The Behavioral health provider in mind body Medicine

Handbook of Mind-Body Medicine for Primary Care. By D. Moss, A. mcgrady,. tc Davies, and I. Wickramasekera. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003. 545 pp. I

סקירה על האפשרות להשתמש בביופידבק ברפואה ראשונית .

  • Biofeedback-based psychophysiological treatment in a primary care setting: an initial feasibility study.

Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2004 Jun;29(2):79-93

Ryan M, Gevirtz R.

We sought to determine whether an intervention labeled "biofeedback" could be implemented with patients who were diagnosed with "functional" disorders (Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Fibromyagia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myofascial Pain, Anxiety with somatic features, or Noncardiac Chest Pain), in a primary care setting, and whether cost savings through lowered utilization of medical services would be realized. Seventy patients were initially randomized into a treatment group or comparison group based on willingness to participate. Ultimately, 19 patients completed treatment and 30 were followed through usual treatment as a comparison. Treatment patients completed symptom diaries while working with a biofeedback therapist in the primary care facility. Both group's medical expenses were tracked for 6 months prior to and 6 months after the treatment time interval. Patients in the treatment group lowered symptom frequency and severity significantly. Medical costs were differentially reduced in this group such that all costs were $72 less in the treatment group and $9 in the comparison for the 6 months following the treatment time period. (p < .001). Unfortunately, a large group of assigned treatment patients did not start or complete treatment. These patients had high initial costs and went up even higher post. No comparable group could be found among the controls, limiting any inference regarding cost/benefit. Biofeedback based interventions for "functional" disorders can be easily integrated into primary care settings, can reduce symptoms, and may be able to reduce overall medical costs in this group of patients known as heavy utilizers.

מחקריו מוכיחים על חשיבה יצירתית ומקורית: הנה למשל מאמר על ההפשעה הפיזיולוגית של כתיבה אקספרסיבית

Autonomic Effects of Expressive Writing in Individuals with Elevated Blood Pressure

Kimberly M. Beckwith McGuireLicensed Clinical Psychologist, USA Melanie A. Greenberg Richard Gevirtz

Alliant International University, USA

We evaluated systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart ratevariability and skin conductance at basline,and 1 and 4 months in 38 participants with elevated blood pressure, randomly assigned to expressive writingor control groups. There was a significant interactionsuch that the very low frequency wave of heart ratevariability increased over time only in controls, suggestingpotentially protective buffering in expressivewriting. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure also decreased significantly from baseline to 1 month inexpressive writing. Consistent with inhibition,Anger-In moderated effects of writing on 4-month DBP. Overall,expressive writing demonstrated short-term autonomicbenefits and longer-term moderated effects.