Habit Reversal Training to Treat Tics in a Young Boy Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome

Abstract

Tourette's Syndrome is a neurological disorder. A majority of patients seek medical treatment to manage tics (Piacentini & Chang, 2001). Tic symptoms also fluctuate as function of the environment (Leckman & Cohen, 1999) posing the possibility that a behavioral intervention may be effective in managing tics. Habit Reversal Training (HRT) (Azrin & Nunn, 1973) is a multi-component behavioral treatment package for suppressing nervous habits and tics by creating awareness of the behavior and engaging in an incompatible behavior, or competing response, to replace the nervous habit or tic. The purpose of the study was to reduce the frequency of motor tics in a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette Syndrome, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Anxiety Disorder.