Personalized Exposure Therapy

Dr. Jasper A. J. Smits is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Texas at Austin, where he directs a research lab and clinic that focus on the treatment of anxiety and related disorders. Among his core interests are developing strategies that enhance exposure therapy outcomes and the training of clinicians in the delivery of this empirically-supported intervention. Dr. Smits is a federally-funded investigator who has published over 200 articles, chapters, and books spanning his interests. He also is a member of the Scientific Council of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, consults to industry, and provides regular workshops on the treatment of anxiety and related disorders at national and international meetings.Dr. Mark B. Powers is Director of Trauma Research at Baylor Scott & White, conducting federally funded projects at two Level 1 Trauma Centers including Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and Scott & White Medical Center in Temple. He collaborates with local police as a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management and Crisis/Hostage Negotiation teams. Dr. Powers is certified in prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD and Exposure with Ritual Prevention for OCD after training at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety with Dr. Edna Foa. He also served as a Beck Scholar at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. He has published over 150 articles, books, and book chapters, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.Dr. Michael W. Otto is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy at Boston University. Dr. Otto has had a major career focus on developing and validating new psychosocial treatments for anxiety and mood disorders. His attention to principles underlying behavior-change successes includes research on addictive behaviors, medication adherence, sleep, and exercise. Across these areas of interest, Dr. Otto has published over 400 articles and 20 books. He has served as President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and President of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association, and received the Division 12 award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology.

The text offers considerable detail on how exposure therapy can be individualized and adapted to many different situations. What is particularly interesting here is that the authors address ways patients can be helped to confront not only problem situations (for example, public speaking) but also problematic negative thoughts (for example, "People are not as caring as I want them to be") and memories (such as those associated with PTSD). Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.