Ferreira, N. B., Eugenicos, M., Morris, P. G., Gillanders, D., 2011. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to understand and improve outcomes in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Gastrointestinal Nursing 9 (9).
Biopsychosocial conceptualizations of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) see the physical and psychological experiences (e.g. bowel discomfort, pain, stress, IBS related anxiety) of this condition as the key influence in the poorer outcomes of this population. Most of the current therapeutic targets proposed by practitioners and patients are somehow limited to an approach of control, change or elimination of these experiences. We will argue for a new functional conceptualization of the suffering in IBS as a result of psychological inflexibility. We will also propose Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a new form of approach, not based on elimination strategies, for the improvement of IBS outcomes. Finally we will consider the possible applications and implications that ACT could have for GI Nursing.
This article uses a contextual behaviour appraoch to explain suffering in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and proposes ACT as a possible therapeutic approach to this suffering.</p>