Understand your tics.
Build practical skills.
CBIT helps kids, teens, and adults build practical skills to manage their tics in a way that works for them.
What is CBIT
Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) is an evidence-based, non-medicated treatment for tic disorders and is considered a first-line behavioral therapy.
CBIT teaches practical skills and strategies to help manage tics and reduce their impact on everyday life.
Core Components of CBIT
Education
Learn about tics, tic disorders,
Awareness Training
Focusing on just one tic at a time, learn to recognize the feelings and sensations that occur right before a tic.
Develop and practice a competing response
Learn an individualized action that counteracts, blocks, and is incompatible with the tic.
Build self-regulation skills through relaxation and stress-management training
CBIT also focuses on relaxation and stress-management strategies that can help calm the mind and body when tics become more challenging.
Use skills in real life
Learn how to apply these strategies in a variety of environments and situations.
What can CBIT do?
CBIT is not a cure for tic disorders, but it can significantly decrease the frequency and intensity of tics for many people.
Most importantly, the goal isn’t simply to reduce tics. The goal is to help you do the things you want to do, need to do, and are expected to do in everyday life.
CBIT: What the Research Shows
53%
of children receiving CBIT were rated as treatment responders, compared with 19% receiving the control treatment.
87%
of children who responded to CBIT maintained their treatment gains 6 months later.
38%
of adults receiving CBIT were rated as treatment responders, compared with 6% receiving the control treatment.
8–10 weeks
CBIT typically involves weekly sessions over approximately 8–10 weeks, along with practice between sessions.
Based on large, multi-site randomized clinical trials summarized by the Tourette Association of America.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) is a client-centered therapy that promotes engagement and fulfillment in all of life’s daily activities. These activities are also known as occupations. Occupational therapy fosters a holistic approach that focuses on the person as a unique individual, and examines how the interplay between the person, their environment, and their valued occupations balance one another to promote a life well-lived. The desired outcome and ultimate goal is to equip the person with a sense of confidence and a solid skill set to better manage their tics, now and in the long term.
OT, combined with CBIT, seeks to build on a client’s strengths instead of focusing on deficits. It considers both the person and their environment, helping reduce the gap between what a person is able to do and what their environment demands. It focuses on identifying the activities or occupations that matter most to each client— helping them participate fully in daily life while reducing the frequency and intensity of their tics.
Minimize tics, maximize life.