Resources

The Subjective units of distress-scale (SUD-scale, also called "the anxiety scale") is a very useful and straightforward clinical technique in exposure therapy for anxiety. It’s essential element is asking the patient to represent his level of anxiety on a scale (usually from 0 to 100).

Safety behaviors are very common among those who suffer from anxiety disorders: The patient does something to relieve the anxiety, which may feel like it “works” in the short run, but actually consolidates the problem in the long run.

Interoceptive exposure is a specific exposure technique, used primarily in CBT for panic disorder. Its focus is on exposing the patient for bodily symptoms (such as heart palpitations or shortness of breath).

Exposure in-vivo is the primary and most broadly used form of exposure. Through gradual and repeated exposure, the patient learns to overcome her fear and to do things in real life that she previously couldn’t do because of her anxiety.

Imaginal exposure is a specific exposure technique, used primary when exposure in-vivo is not feasible. It follows the same basic principles of exposure as when it is used in-vivo, but instead of seeking out the phobic stimulus in the real world the focus of exposure is a phobic mental image or memory.

Homework is at the heart of CBT, because it is the way of making the change process in therapy vividly present in the patient’s everyday life, and not only during the therapy sessions. The goal of every CBT is to help the patient experience something new in his or her life, and homework is essential to making that happen.

Helping the patient to identify goals for therapy is essential to every cognitive behavior therapy. All goal formulation should be based in what the patient wants to change in his or her life, in terms of what he or she would like to be able to *do* differently.

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the most effective psychological treatment for OCD. It shares the same basic principles as other forms of exposure therapy, but its practice stresses certain elements that are particularly important in OCD, including the importance of response prevention and re-exposure.

An exposure hierarchy is a clinical tool used in exposure therapy for planning exposure exercises. Its goal is to help create a “road map” for the therapy, helping the therapist and the patient see where to start and collaboratively establishing the outline and the goals of the therapy.

Functional analysis constitutes both a theoretical foundation and a practical clinical tool in CBT. It guides the therapist through the assessment phase and provides the blueprint for the therapy, outlining the patient’s way to change.

Exposure is arguably the most well-known therapeutic intervention in CBT, used in some shape or form since the 1950s, helping people with anxiety disorders. Exposure can be used as a part of a broader CBT or constitute a whole psychotherapy in its own right (“exposure therapy”).

Behavioral activation was developed as a specific cognitive behavior therapy for depression. Its principles can be used in every CBT where low mood plays a role. The core principle of behavioral activation is to help the patient more actively engage with life again. This is done by reintroducing positively reinforcing experiences in the patient’s life (which one can call “natural antidepressants”).