OPERANT PROCEDURES APPLIED TO A CONVERSION DISORDER

Conversion symptoms, as identified by the existing classification syst ems, do not form a single unitary class. It is therefore difficult to find an adequate treatment that closely connects to the basic characte ristics of the disease. Instead, we designed a treatment method that c losely relates to the behavioural aspects of a conversion disorder. We reasoned that motor patterns can be taught straightforwardly by means of operant conditioning methods and that movement disorders in conver sion should be treated accordingly. Our case study shows that carefull y retraining deficient motor patterns may constitute the core of the t reatment for conversion disorders.