Combining talk therapy and biofeedback for physical symptom disorder

This trial is testing a new approach that combines two types of therapy to treat somatic symptom disorder—a condition where people experience persistent physical symptoms (like pain, fatigue, or other discomfort) that are closely connected to stress, worry, and how they think about their health. The study combines cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps you identify and change thought patterns that worsen your symptoms, with biofeedback therapy, which uses technology to show you how your body responds to stress so you can learn to relax more effectively.

Many people with somatic symptom disorder struggle because their symptoms are real and distressing, but standard medical treatments often don't fully help. While talk therapy has shown promise, doctors want to see if adding biofeedback—which gives you real-time information about your body's stress response—makes the treatment even more effective.