Psychological Approaches to Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Clinician's Guide to Assessment and Treatment (Series in Anxiety and Related Disorders)

"Holly Hazlett-Stevens has provided clinicians who treat clients with generalized anxiety disorder with a most useful resource. Psychological Approaches to Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a compendium of techniques with which all cognitive-behavioral therapists should be familiar, presented in a step-by-step, easy-to-digest fashion. The beginning clinician will find the detailed description of techniques and the theory underlying their use to be most helpful in helping clients overcome the cognitive, somatic, and behavioral symptoms that make GAD such a complex disorder to treat. The attention devoted to the description of each technique and what to do when application of the techniques does not go as smoothly as one might like was especially helpful. This book provides a long list of options in the treatment of GAD and a roadmap to their administration in an integrated fashion by an empathically-attuned cognitive-behavioral therapist. It will occupy a place of honor on the bookshelves of those of us who treat clients with GAD, and we will be thankful that we have it."
-Richard G. Heimberg, PhD, Adult Anxiety Clinic, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

"Holly Hazlett-Stevens has written a very updated and comprehensive book on a highly relevant topic- generalized anxiety disorder, a common but disabilitating disorder.
      The book comprises a very thorough presentation of the various current approaches to GAD, with an emphasis on assessment and treatment principles, covering the most relevant treatment strategies for GAD evidenced today. The book is written as a clinicians guide but any clinician and theoretician dealing with anxiety disorder or depression would find this book very useful.
     The author has made an impressive and a substantial contribution to this field providing a skillful mix of theory and practice that should be essential reading for all wanting to learn more about this disorder; clinicians, researchers as well as their students. The volume is what many of us have been waiting for, and I highly recommend it."
-Hans M Nordahl, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

One of the hallmarks of generalized anxiety disorder, along with diffuse pathological worry and somatic complaints, is its resistance to therapy. Of available treatment modalities for GAD, cognitive-behavioral therapy garners the best empirical support in terms of successful long-term results. Psychological Approaches to Generalized Anxiety Disorder offers clinicians a wide variety of CBT strategies to help clients develop core anxiety-reduction skills, presented so that readers can hone their own clinical skills. Concise without skimping on information, this book reviews current theory and research, addresses important diagnostic issues, and provides salient details in these key areas:

• Assessment procedures and treatment planning.
• Latest therapy outcome data, including findings on newer therapies.
• Specific CBT techniques, including cognitive strategies, psychoeducation, anxiety monitoring, relaxation exercises, and more.
• Dealing with noncompliance, client ambivalence, and other challenges to therapy.
• Special considerations for treating older adults with GAD.
• Relapse prevention, transition issues, and ending treatment.

Psychological Approaches to Generalized Anxiety Disorder has much information of interest to new and seasoned clinicians, clinical researchers, and academic psychologists. It is also an especially valuable reference for graduate students treating or studying the anxiety spectrum.

Holly Hazlett-Stevens, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Since receiving her doctorate from Pennsylvania State University in 1999, she’s published many articles and taken part in numerous scientific presentations on anxiety and anxiety-related subjects. She recently served as research coordinator for a large, multi-site investigation of the identification and treatment of panic disorder in a primary care medical setting (administered by the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Behavioral Research Program). Her main research interests include: generalized anxiety disorder, normal and pathological worry, anxiety and stress-related disorders, psychotherapy outcome research, and fear reduction.