Hi,
@OnceUponaTime: I wish you good luck in trying to find better management techniques for your tinnitus. While it would be wonderful to have a cure right now, in the meantime it helps to do as much for ourselves as we can, in my opinion.
One thing I wanted to mention,though:
I never have heard of "tinnitus cognitive retraining therapy."
It appears this may be a term that Dr. Stephen Geller Katz has invented himself. It seems to draw on the titles of two well-known and long-standing therapies: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT).
CBT, which is the topic on this thread, teaches you how to redirect negative thinking and shut down anxiety spirals. It has been practiced by psychotherapists for many, many years and used for many disorders. Only fairly recently have people realized it can be very useful for tinnitus patients. I believe one of the medical associations for ENTs now recommends medical doctors suggest CBT to patients who are disturbed by their tinnitus.
TRT, also widely discussed and debated on this board, is far newer than CBT but also around for awhile. It is designed to promote habituation. As I understand it: it is a combination of directive counseling (similar to CBT) coupled with sound therapy (you listen to a sound generator designed to tamp down your nervous system's response to the tinnitus). You do not need a special TRT license to practice it and "tinnitus retraining therapy" is not a licensed trademark. So anyone can say they have been trained in TRT. I believe most legitimate TRT clinics, however, would have an audiologist or similar clinician on staff, not just a psychotherapist. If you want to know more about TRT, just search the board.
I participated in a sound therapy program similar TRT, called Neuromonics, and coupled it with CBT on my own. So I had access to an audiologist and a therapist.
Dr. Katz, according to his web site, is a licensed psychotherapist. I see no mention about an audiology staff or sound therapy. So I guess what he is doing is his own version of CBT with a tinnitus focus? Not sure. I might be a little concerned about a practioner who is using a selling a service with a title very similar to TRT when it doesn't appear he is doing TRT. Just a thought. Don't know what special training Dr. Katz has regarding tinnitus, other than he's seen patients with it. His other specialties, according to his web site, are hoarding disorders and coaching businesses how to be more successful.
Has anyone on the board had experience with the Tinnitus Cognitive Center in New York City?
Again, OnceUponATime, wish you the best and am not saying anything here is wrong. And maybe you already have checked out Dr. Katz completely. Just saw a couple of things that raised red flags for me and wanted to point them out. I have run into plenty of "professionals" who have misrepresented themselves to tinnitus patients.
Member
Praying for all of you.
