Anxiety is the most common mental health issue clients bring to therapy—and mastering its clinical nuances is key to effective treatment. In this video, Drs. Mark Fefergrad and Peggy Richter demonstrate core techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that ease the negative beliefs and behaviors associated with anxiety. Here, the two Toronto-based therapists outline CBT’s essential tenets and tools and, in an annotated series of clinical vignettes, show you how to incorporate them into your work with anxious clients.
A time-limited, evidence-based treatment rooted in the clinical discoveries of Dr. Aaron Beck, CBT emphasizes the interactive, nonlinear relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Richter and Fefergrad cover important CBT techniques, strategies, and goals, and they discuss both the cognitive and behavioral issues anxious clients may bring to your office.
You’ll then watch each clinician apply these tools in their work with Kathy, a 40-year-old woman whose severe panic attacks have led to job loss and home seclusion. Fefergrad’s supportive inquiries into her “hot thoughts” and the difficult emotions they bring allow Kathy to work collaboratively on CBT’s Automatic Thought Record. He also helps her differentiate between thoughts and emotions, and identifies somatic symptoms she can observe and assess. Richter, after describing the types of behavioral avoidance anxiety provokes, then guides Kathy through the CBT exercises of interoceptive exposure, box breathing, and graded tasks, ultimately helping her design a realistic plan for returning to the public activities she once enjoyed.
Both therapists support Kathy through a reflective, solution-oriented process, and after treatment has concluded, she proudly reports using these tools to not only attend her niece’s wedding, but to stay the duration without leaving.
This video is an excellent resource for anyone seeking a CBT primer, tools for working with anxiety, or an understanding of psychotherapy from a cognitive standpoint. Be sure to take a look.
This video is part of the six-video series, Psychotherapy Essentials To Go. Other self-study videos in this series include:
- Achieving Psychotherapy Effectiveness
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques for Emotional Dysregulation
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression
- Motivational Interviewing for Concurrent Disorders
