The Manual covers the key concepts and skills of CBT and provides educational information and exercises for patients. Some key points:
- It starts with an overview of anxiety – the biological “fight or flight” response, common symptoms, triggers, etc. This provides a foundation of understanding anxiety before moving into the treatment sections.
- It then covers the main CBT skills:
- Exposure therapy – gradually confronting feared situations to reduce anxiety and avoidance. It explains how to create a fear hierarchy, track progress, and troubleshoot obstacles.
- Cognitive therapy – identifying and modifying unhelpful thoughts that trigger or worsen anxiety. It covers cognitive distortions, gathering evidence, and dispute negative thoughts.
- Relaxation skills – diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness, muscle relaxation, lifestyle balance. This aims to reduce overall tension.
- There are sections on problem-solving, self-care, acceptance, and managing anxiety long-term. This provides a broad toolkit.
- It includes summaries, examples, worksheets, and homework assignments to make the material interactive.
- The end has appendixes with resources for further learning and treatment options at the University of Michigan Anxiety Disorders Clinic where this was developed.
Overall, this is a thorough CBT manual that provides psychoeducation and skills training for anxiety disorder patients. The interactive elements make it more engaging and applied. It would be a useful accompaniment for individual or group CBT.
