Severe Somatoform Disorder in Adolescence: A Case Series Using a Rehabilitation Model for Intervention

Abstract

This article describes a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of adolescent patients with severe and unremitting somatoform disorders on an inpatient pediatric psychiatry unit. The treatment approach includes the use of a rehabilitation model for behavioral shaping, supportive therapies, family therapies, and an adolescent treatment milieu. The article also provides a case example and results from a consecutive case series of seven patients treated using this approach. The patients treated using this approach demonstrated significant improvements in global assessments of functioning, decreased dependence on medical devices (wheel- chairs, crutches, feeding tubes), and a decreased need for pediatric interventions.