Psychological Treatment of Health Anxiety and Hypochondriasis

In this highly practical and accessible book, Jonathan Abramowitz and Autumn Braddock present a model of health anxiety and hypochondriasis grounded in the most up-to-date clinical science and that incorporates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral processes. They also offer a step-by-step guide to assessment, conceptualization, and psychological treatment that is derived from this model and integrates strategies for dealing with resistance to treatment, psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, and behavioral therapy (exposure and response prevention). The book is packed with illustrative clinical examples and therapist-patient dialogues. Sample forms and handouts are also provided.This book, which also addresses obstacles in treating individuals with health anxiety, is thus an essential resource for practitioners, students, and researchers in behavioral medicine and health psychology, and for anyone working with patients in hospitals, primary care settings, academic medical centers, and freestanding mental health clinics.Between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of visits to primary care clinics are for somatic complaints with no identifiable organic pathology. While most people are reassured when told they are not ill, a certain percentage is convinced the doctor has missed something serious. For centuries, hypochondriasis and persistent somatic complaints have baffled physicians and mental health professionals alike. Recent decades, however, have seen advances in the understanding and treatment of this problem when it is considered a form of "health anxiety." These advances are reflected in this up-to-date and practical volume by leading experts.