Cognitive Tinnitus Therapy & Tinnitus Functional Index
Cognitive Tinnitus Therapy (CTT) has been formulated by audiology-based tinnitus professionals considered to be experts in their field. A number of questionnaires may be used in the assessment process, and the Tinnitus Function Index (TFI) will be at the core of the development and potential redevelopment of a tinnitus patient's clinical program of treatment.
CTT incorporates elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness and the use and effective delivery of sound enrichment using modern hearing aids and mobile phone tinnitus applications. Sound therapy is tailored to a person's personal tinnitus sound, either directly from a hearing device or via a mobile phone app. This can immediately lessen or eliminate awareness of tinnitus. A low level is used to achieve this effect, making it as unnoticeable as possible.
This can also produce a residual inhibition effect, which means that the tinnitus is less detectable even after the sound therapy is removed. At the same time, we subconsciously work on your cognitive mechanism, and your sound centres are trained to naturally tune out your tinnitus in a process known as habituation.
Cognitive Tinnitus Therapy
Cognitive Tinnitus Therapy is a modular-based, tailored program of remastered modified Tinnitus Retaining Therapy. CTT has been developed by Tinnitus Centres to be a simple-to-apply, personal schedule of evidence-based tinnitus treatments for both the therapist and the patient. At the end of a Full Tinnitus Centres Assessment, a bespoke clinical pathway of treatment will be constructed for the patient by the Tinnitus Centre practitioner from a selection of modules based on the patient's Full Tinnitus Centres Assessment incorporating Tinnitus Functional Index results.
Tinnitus Functional Index
The TFI is a questionnaire that has eight subscales that address the following:
- intrusiveness of tinnitus
- the sense of control the patient has
- cognitive interference
- sleep disturbance
- auditory issues
- relaxation issues
- quality of life
- emotional distress
Because of its responsiveness to treatment-related change, as well as its other psychometric properties and comprehensive coverage of the domains of tinnitus impact, the TFI can be used as a standard instrument to develop and adapt a personal clinical program of treatment.
"The handicap associated with tinnitus can arise from any combination of stress, anxiety, depression, emotional distress, insomnia, difficulties concentrating, or impairments in quality of life or everyday functioning. Measuring such handicap and determining clinical need is therefore far from trivial. Perceptual measurements (for example the pitch or loudness of tinnitus) do not reliably reflect how bothersome tinnitus is across individuals, so self-reported questionnaires are essential to quantify tinnitus severity and to measure change in tinnitus handicap over time. About two-thirds of clinicians in NHS audiology departments routinely use questionnaires to assess tinnitus severity." Kathryn Fackrell and Derek Hoare 2017
What makes Tinnitus Centres Different?
Tinnitus Centres believes excellent questionnaires are a necessary assessment tool, and how the results are used to develop the right course of treatment is what's essentially important to the tinnitus patient. Tinnitus Centres address this through audiologist training in it's unique, prescriptive, practical, and simple-to-implement CTT modular-based approach. All Tinnitus Centres Advice & Treatment Centres have attended our training.