Exposure Treatments For Anxiety Disorders

Now revised and expanded to include cutting-edge acceptance-based techniques and a new focus on inhibitory learning, this is the leading guide to therapeutic exposure, a crucial element of evidence-based psychological treatments for anxiety. The book helps the clinician gain skills and confidence for implementing exposure successfully and tailoring interventions to each client's needs, regardless of diagnosis. The theoretical and empirical bases of exposure are reviewed and specialized assessment and treatment planning techniques are described. User-friendly features include illustrative case examples, sample treatment plans, ideas for exercises targeting specific types of fears, and reproducible handouts and forms that can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8½" x 11" size. New to This Edition *Chapter on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques. *Reflects a shift in the field toward inhibitory learning--helping clients learn to tolerate anxiety and uncertainty to maximize long-term outcomes. *Chapter on uses of technology, such as computer-based therapy and virtual reality tools. *Conceptual, empirical, and clinical advances woven throughout.

Table of Contents: Exposure therapy for anxiety : overview and history How well does exposure therapy work? The nature and treatment of clinical anxiety Treatment planning I : functional assessment Treatment planning II : hierarchy development and treatment engagement Implementing exposure therapy : an overview Animal-related stimuli Natural environments Social concerns Unwanted intrusive thoughts Bodily cues and health concerns Contamination The aftermath of trauma Blood, injection, and injury-related stimuli Incompleteness, asymmetry, and not-just-right feelings Exposure therapy with complex cases Exposure therapy with children Involving significant others in treatment Combining exposure therapy with medication Maintaining improvement after treatment Exposure therapy : a risk-benefit analysis.

This book has been replaced by Exposure Therapy for Anxiety, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-3952-9.

Social anxiety disorder is persistent fear of (or anxiety about) one or more social situations that is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the situation and can be severely detrimental to quality of life. Only a minority of people with social anxiety disorder receive help. Effective treatments do exist and this book aims to increase identification and assessment to encourage more people to access interventions. Covers adults, children and young people and compares the effects of pharmacological and psychological interventions. Commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The CD-ROM contains all of the evidence on which the recommendations are based, presented as profile tables (that analyse quality of data) and forest plots (plus, info on using/interpreting forest plots). This material is not available in print anywhere else.

Exposure Therapy refers to any clinical intervention in which a client directly confronts a source of fear. Since high levels of anxiety can not be maintained indefinitely, repeated exposure leads to decreased anxiety. This type of treatment is effective with phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorders, panic, generalized anxiety, and several other disorders. It's also been found to be effective in helping to treat substance abuse. Although exposure-based treatments have been extensively researched and reported in the literature, there is no single comprehensive treatment of exposure therapies. Writings tend to be limited to larger pieces on treating specific disorders or types of patients. A comprehensive book on the use of these treatments across patient disorders will be of great use to practitioners. The book is divided into three sections: Foundation, Applications, and Issues. Foundation chapters considers theoretical and assessment issues. Applications chapters will discuss research literature on each disorder having been proven to be successfully treated with exposure therapy. Issue chapters will discuss liability issues, false memory syndrome, and the use of computers and virtual reality in exposure therapy. *Covers the broad range of exposure therapies in one comprehensive source *Provides an integrated look at exposure therapy across a variety of disorders *Each such chapter will include a case study *Blends literature review and practice guidelines

As a mental health professional, it can be difficult to help anxious clients face their fears and anxieties. Exposure therapy is widely appreciated as one of the most effective therapeutic treatments for anxiety spectrum disorders; however, it is often underutilized due to problems that present themselves during treatment, such as client unwillingness or hesitancy, or a lack of understanding on the professional’s part regarding targeted applications. The Clinician's Guide to Exposure Therapies for Anxiety Spectrum Disorders offers guidance in creating specific exposure exercises for clients’ individual fears and phobias, as well as tools to help you and your clients overcome common roadblocks that arise during exposure therapy. In addition, this clinician’s guide presents detailed solutions and specific exposure strategies for the most common fears and phobias clients experience. You will learn to implement exposure therapy and integrate it with other evidence-based practices, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The book also includes reproducible worksheets you can use to help clients develop hierarchies of exposure and information about using prolonged exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. If you are looking for a powerful resource for treating anxiety disorders, this is it.

Written by a team of clinicians specializing in the treatment of children and adolescents, this professional guide offers a comprehensive, practical resource for implementing exposure therapy when treating children and adolescents with anxiety. Each chapter is devoted to tailoring exposure work to a specific anxiety-related condition, such as separation anxiety, phobias, panic, social anxiety, and more, using a variety of creative exposure ideas and activities. In Exposure Therapy for Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents, you’ll find detailed hierarchies and clinical suggestions for treating each specific childhood anxiety condition, including separation anxiety, school refusal, selective mutism, specific phobia, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and emotion tolerance. The book also offers an overview of exposure therapy and its implementation in children and adolescents, including a review of current research and empirical findings on this approach. With this book, you’ll also find solid strategies for conducting detailed clinical assessments, so you can gain a greater understanding the specific anxiety triggers and factors that play a role in the development of and maintenance of the child’s problem, and learn how this information can be used to guide you in your development of specific exposure exercises. Finally, you’ll find tips on how to assess for family variables that may contribute to the maintenance of the child’s condition, as well as ways to work with parents in becoming effective coaches for their children during exposure-based activities. Children are vastly different than adults in their treatment needs and in the process through which effective therapy is implemented. If you’re looking for clear, practical guidelines for designing, adapting, and implementing specific exposure exercises for your young clients, this book provides everything you need in one place.

Despite the fact that methods of exposure therapy have proven to be highly effective in various empirical studies, they are still underused and sometimes subject to controversial discussion. There have been significant developments: In recent years, methods of exposure therapy have been applied in various areas of therapy, including body dysmorphic disorder and hypochondriasis. Exposure techniques also play an important role in the so called “third wave therapies” (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy). And there is more recently a revival of exposure in panic and agoraphobia and GAD. On the other hand, a large number of scientific articles discuss the practical applications (ethical aspects, amount of exposure) and the theoretical foundations (habituation) of exposure therapy. In order to provide an overview of the current debate and to point out the latest developments in the area of exposure therapy, we have decided to present the current state of discussion (most contributors are scientist-practitioners) to an interested professional audience.