Behavioral and biofeedback therapy for a functionally impaired musician: a case report.

A performing musician with severe occupational palsy accompanied by obsessions and compulsions was treated by an in vivo temperature biofeedback exercise. The treatment appeared highly successful in removing both the palsy and the obsessions, with improvement seen after six 1/2-day sessions and persisting for 4 years after the termination of treatment. This is the second reported case of functional palsy in a performing musician successfully treated by applying feedback apparatus directly to the affected part of the body. Occupational palsy, traditionally thought to be highly resistant to treatment, seems surprisingly amenable to in vivo biofeedback.