Work

Self‐help and minimal‐contact therapies for anxiety disorders: Is human contact necessary for therapeutic efficacy?

Year: 2003

Type: review

Abstract: Self-help materials, brief therapies, and treatments involving minimal therapist contact have all been proposed as effective and low-cost interventions for anxiety disorders. However, research also suggests that the therapeutic alliance is a central predictor of therapy outcome. Interestingly, amounts of therapist contact within and across "self-help" interventions vary greatly. It is therefore unclear how much therapist contact is necessary for a positive anxiety disorder treatment outcome. The present article reviews the literature on anxiety disorder treatments using self-help, self-administered, and decreased therapist-contact interventions. Treatment studies are grouped together by anxiety diagnosis as well as amount of therapist contact. It is concluded that self-administered treatments are most effective for motivated clients seeking treatment for simple phobias. Predominantly self-help therapies are efficacious for panic disorder and mixed anxiety samples. On the other hand, minimal-contact therapies have demonstrated efficacy for the greatest variety of anxiety diagnoses.

Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/jclp.10128

Authors: Michelle G. Newman, Thane Erickson, Amy Przeworski, Ellen Dzus

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, Seattle Pacific University, Case Western Reserve University

Language: English

Topic: Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health