Box 4.2 Relaxation Techniques
• Instruct the patient to sit quietly without crossing arms or legs
• Ask the patient to close her eyes
• Give these instructions for cue-controlled relaxation, which combines deep
breathing and repetition of the word “relax”
– Take a slow, deep, abdominal breath
– Place your hand over your stomach while you breath slowly and deeply
– Make sure you feel your stomach moving in and out with each breath
– After breathing in, hold your breath for 5–10 s, then breath out, slowly
repeating the word “relax”
– Repeat this for 10–15 min
• Give these instructions for progressive muscle relaxation, which has the
patient alternatively contract and relax muscles
– Tighten the muscles in your feet
– Focus on how the muscles feel when tensed
– Hold the tension for 10–15 s
– Release the tension and feel the muscles relax
– Focus on how the muscle feels once relaxed
– Now tighten the muscles in your legs. Hold for 10–15 s and then relax
– Repeat this process with muscles in your abdomen, then your arms,
then your shoulders, then your neck, then your jaw, then your eyes, and
finally your forehead
– Focus on how the muscles in your body feel when they are no longer
tensed