ABCT Clinical Practice Series

This book is a practical guide to addressing family accommodation in the treatment of childhood anxiety. Accommodation refers to changes that parents make to their own behavior to help a child avoid or alleviate anxiety (e.g., sleeping next to their child at night, providing repeated reassurance). The book deals with addressing accommodation within the context of a broader treatment strategy that includes additional interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, as well as addressing accommodation as a stand-alone parent-based treatment. There is consensus among experts and acknowledgement among practitioners that family accommodation is a key aspect of child anxiety, with major impact on clinical course, severity of symptoms and impairment, family distress, and treatment outcomes. Yet, most treatment programs do not focus on this important element of childhood anxiety, and most clinicians feel ill-equipped to effectively address accommodation in their clinical work. After briefly reviewing the relevant research on accommodation in child anxiety, this concise and easily accessible primer focuses on the practical and pragmatic aspects of addressing parental accommodation in the treatment of child anxiety. The book includes rich clinical illustrations and many suggestions for how to broach the topic of accommodation with both parents and children including a wealth of easily understood metaphors to approach the topic in an empathic and nonjudgmental manner. Therapists working with anxious children and their families will find useful tips and numerous suggestions for addressing accommodation in every part of the treatment process.Less

In recent years, there has been a movement away from traditional disorder-specific manuals for the treatment of psychological disorders and toward treatment approaches that focus on addressing psychological processes that appear to cut across disorders. These “transdiagnostic” evidence-based treatments may prove to be more cost-efficient and have the potential to increase availability of evidence-based treatments to meet a significant public-health need. Among clinicians, the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP), developed by Dr. David Barlow and colleagues, is the most recognizable and widely used transdiagnostic treatment protocol with empirical support for its use. This book provides clinicians with a “how to” guide for using the UP to treat a broad range of commonly encountered psychological disorders in adults. Each chapter covers a specific emotional disorder but important transdiagnostic processes are highlighted and discussed in relation to treatment. Case studies are employed throughout to illustrate the real-world application of this unique cognitive behavioral protocol and to instruct clinicians in the nuts and bolts of assessment, case formulation, and treatment in accordance with a transdiagnostic perspective. Most of the chapters are authored by current or former unified protocol team members who are all thoroughly familiar with the UP and will be writing about cases they themselves have treated.Less

Exposure therapy is a core component of evidence-based treatments for eating disorders (EDs), including cognitive-behavioral therapy and family-based treatment. Despite this, existing treatment guides give relatively limited attention to the clinical issues associated with good implementation of exposure. This book is designed to augment a wide variety of treatment manuals by providing ED clinicians with practical advice for maximizing the effectiveness of exposure, regardless of which evidence-based treatment they use or the profession to which they belong. Written in an easy-to-understand format, this book not only translates the most up-to-date empirical research on exposure for EDs, it also extrapolates clinical advice from the anxiety disorders literature to help busy clinicians become more effective in treating EDs. Readers will walk away with a solid foundation in the theoretical underpinnings of exposure therapy, as well as an understanding of how to utilize this information to sell the rationale for exposure to their ED patients. Clinically rich chapters, with ample case material, demonstrate how to prepare to embark on exposure therapy with a wide range of ED patients, including those with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Specific types of ED exposure are covered in detail, including exposure to food and eating, cue exposure for binge eating, weighing and weight exposure, body image exposure, emotion and interpersonally focused exposure, and novel forms of exposure for EDs. Clinicians also will walk away with strategies for overcoming obstacles to implementation of exposure therapy, including institutional resistance.Less

This book is a highly practical guide to efficiently address cases of youth with school attendance problems at different levels of severity and complexity. School attendance problems are a pervasive and difficult dilemma faced by many types of mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists, psychiatrists, marriage and family therapists), school officials (e.g., administrators, guidance counselors, school-based social workers, school psychologists), and others (e.g., pediatricians, probation officers). School attendance problems, even in mild forms, are a significant risk factor for social, behavioral, and academic problems in middle childhood and adolescence as well as psychiatric, economic, and occupational difficulties in adulthood. This book takes a “nuts and bolts” approach that provides very specific and detailed recommendations and guidelines for assessment and intervention across a short period of time (e.g., four weeks). The book focuses less on descriptions of overall programs for absenteeism and more on specific procedures for many different types of cases. Many mental health and school-based professionals cannot logistically implement large-scale programs or even detailed manualized treatment protocols for their clients and schools. Thus, this book is meant to be a very practical guide to address school absenteeism at a relatively fast pace, and within the constraints of most private practices and school settings, while relying on empirically supported techniques. The book also considers developmental levels, with some chapters more applicable to elementary school children and others more suited to middle and high school adolescents.Less