Course Description:

This course provides an overview of the 2 most commonly used CBT methods for the treatment of anxiety disorders and summarizes the current empirical research.  This course is based upon material published by the Servier Research Group is available as an open access article on dialogues-cns.org

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of two categories of CBT methods that permeate a wide variety of anxiety disorder-specific treatments and to provide a review of the current empirical research related to these techniques. We start by describing two of the most commonly used CBT treatment methods (exposure and cognitive therapy) followed by a review of the empirical literature investigating the efficacy and effectiveness of these methods in treating each anxiety disorder. We end with a discussion of the nuances that arise in comparing CBT treatments for anxiety disorders and we propose directions for future research. In structuring our review of these CBT methods, we acknowledge that these techniques are often interrelated and not necessarily applied in isolation from each other. For clinicians wanting to learn more about the particulars of applying CBT protocols in practice, we encourage them to seek out one of the many anxiety disorder-specific CBT books available (for an overview, see CBT for Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner Book, edited by Gregoris Simos and Stefan G. Hofmann,8 or Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders, edited by David H. Barlow9). Additionally, this paper is meant to be an introduction to CBT for anxiety; therefore, this discussion of CBT methods is neither meant to be exhaustive nor static, and is expected to be adapted and revised as future research dictates.

This course on CBT and the treatment of anxiety disorders, is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work.  This course is appropriate for intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their knowledge of the efficacy of CBT for anxiety disorders. The course material includes a literature review of interventions.  It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal.The course is based on a journal article which includes research.  It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not.  A major benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. 

Authors:  Kaczkurkin and Foa,

Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding two common methods of CBT. Specifically, a professional will:

• Recognize the efficacy of CBT in treatment of different disorders
• Explain what CBT is and what it is used for
• Discriminate between the two CBT methods discussed

Citation:  Kaczkurkin, A.N. and Foa, E.B. (2015). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders:an update on the empirical evidence.  Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 17 (3), 337-346.

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