Cognitive–Behavioral Psychoeducation for Clinical Anxiety

Helping clients understand the cognitive and behavioral processes involved in their clinical anxiety is important for getting the most out of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Dr. Jonathan S. Abramowitz' cognitive-behavioral psychoeducation approach provides an explanation of techniques and how they work so that the client has a sense of agency and responsibility in their progress. This educational approach focuses on helping clients understand the psychological processes that are involved in the maintenance of clinical anxiety and related problems.

In this video program, Dr. Abramowitz demonstrates this approach by helping the patient learn to think of the anxiety response as a normal and adaptive response to the perception of threat that does not have to be resisted. The demonstration applies the approach with a client who is suffering from panic and generalized anxiety.

Jonathan S. Abramowitz is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and director of the UNC-CH Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic. He is an internationally recognized authority on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders and approaches the understanding and treatment of these problems from a cognitive–behavioral perspective.

Dr. Abramowitz earned his BA in psychology from Muhlenberg College, his MA in psychology from Bucknell University, and his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Memphis. He completed both a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a staff psychologist and associate professor at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) from 2000 until 2006 and moved to North Carolina in 2006.

Dr. Abramowitz's research focuses on the development and evaluation of cognitive–behavioral treatments for OCD and other anxiety-related problems, as well as on understanding the nature and psychopathology of these problems.

He is the author of approximately 300 publications, including more than 10 books and more than 250 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has also worked extensively as a book and journal editor.

Dr. Abramowitz has given invited lectures around the world and served in numerous editorial and advisory roles for scientific journals and organizations. He is a past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

• Abramowitz, J. (2006). Understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder: A cognitive-behavioral approach. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Abramowitz, J. S. & Jacoby, R. J. (2015). Obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: Advances in Psychotherapy — Evidence-based practice. Boston: Hogrefe Publishing.
• Abramowitz, J. S., & Arch, J. J. (2014). Strategies for improving long-term outcomes in cognitive behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: Insights from learning theory. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 21, 20–31.
• Abramowitz, J., Franklin, M., & Cahill, S. (2003). Approaches to common obstacles in the exposure-based treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 10, 14–22.
• Arch, J. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2015). Exposure therapy for obsessive–compulsive disorder: An optimizing inhibitory learning approach. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 6, 174–182.
• Craske, M. G., Treanor, M., Conway, C. C., Zbozinek, T., & Vervliet, B. (2014). Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 58, 10–23. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2014.04.006
• Twohig, M. P., Abramowitz, J. S., Bluett, E. J., Fabricant, L. E., Jacoby, R. J., Morrison, K. L.,...& Smith, B. M. (2015). Exposure therapy for OCD from an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) framework. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 6, 167–173.

APA Videos

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety and Worry
  Martin M. Antony
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder
  Eric A. Storch
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Over Time
  Amy Wenzel
• Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Clients With Anxiety and Panic
  Bunmi O. Olatunji
• Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Clients With Multiple Problems
  Gayle Y. Iwamasa
• Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Specific Phobias
  Michael A. Tompkins
• Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy Strategies
  Keith S. Dobson

APA Books

• Behavioral Interventions in Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Practical Guidance for Putting Theory Into Action, Second Edition
  Richard F. Farmer, and Alexander L. Chapman
• Cognitive Therapy
  Keith S. Dobson
• Strategic Decision Making in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  Amy Wenzel