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Emerging Behavioral Treatments for Migraine

  • Psychological and Behavioral Aspects of Headache and Pain (D Buse, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Although the efficacy of behavioral interventions for migraine (e.g., relaxation training, stress management, cognitive-behavioral therapy, biofeedback) is well established, other behavioral interventions that have shown efficacy for other conditions are being adapted to treat migraine. This paper reviews the literature to date on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based interventions, and behavioral interventions for common migraine comorbidities. ACT and mindfulness interventions prioritize the outcome of improved functioning above headache reduction and have demonstrated efficacy for chronic pain broadly. These emerging behavioral therapies show considerable promise for improving outcomes of migraine patients, particularly in reducing headache-related disability and affective distress, but efficacy to date is limited by small trials, short follow-up periods, and a need for comparison or integration with established pharmacologic and behavioral migraine treatments.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Todd A. Smitherman receives research support from Merck.  Dr. Rebecca E. Wells declares no potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Sutapa G. Ford reports a grant from the Department of Defense.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 38677, USA

    Todd A. Smitherman

  2. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Rebecca E. Wells

  3. Carolina Headache Institute, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sutapa G. Ford

Authors
  1. Todd A. Smitherman
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  2. Rebecca E. Wells
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  3. Sutapa G. Ford
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd A. Smitherman.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychological and Behavioral Aspects of Headache and Pain

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Smitherman, T.A., Wells, R.E. & Ford, S.G. Emerging Behavioral Treatments for Migraine. Curr Pain Headache Rep 19, 13 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-015-0486-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-015-0486-z

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