The Clinical Handbook of Fear and Anxiety is a comprehensive guide to the understanding and treatment of clinical anxiety and related disorders. As the editors demonstrate, the clear delineations implied by DSM and ICD diagnoses are illusory when it comes to real-life clinical anxiety. This is because symptoms are shared among different diagnoses, meaning that the same patient can be diagnosed in a variety of ways—leading clinicians to recommend different treatments that can have radically different outcomes.
 
This volume therefore offers a shift in perspective. Chapters in Part I highlight the key psychological processes (e.g., intolerance of uncertainty, threat overestimation) that maintain clinical anxiety. Then in Part II, contributors examine empirically supported mechanisms of change (e.g., exposure, cognitive restructuring, acceptance) that are effective across a range of anxiety presentations and are found in a variety of effective treatments. The editors’ transdiagnostic approach helps clinicians connect theory with the practical realities of mental health treatment.
 

Dr. Abramowitz has over 20 years of experience studying the course and treatment of anxiety-related disorders, especially OCD, and other related topics. He is currently a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Director of its Anxiety Clinic. He previously served as Associate Chair of the UNC Psychology and Neuroscience Department and has prior teaching experience at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo School of Medicine. Dr. Abramowitz is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, authoring over 300 research articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and books on the topic. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC. Visit http://jonabram.web.unc.edu/, and follow @DrJonAbram on twitter.

Shannon Blakey, M.S., is Ph.D. candidate of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She works closely with Dr. Abramowitz in the UNC Anxiety Clinic’s research on anxiety-related disorders. She is interested in treatment and therapeutic strategies to tackle anxiety disorders, and is conducing research on safety aids and behaviors during exposure therapy. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

Contributors
 Preface
 
I. MAINTENANCE PROCESSES
 
Introduction to Part I: Why Psychological Maintenance Processes?
Shannon M. Blakey and Jonathan S. Abramowitz
 
1. Overestimation of Threat
Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Shannon M. Blakey
 
2. Safety Behaviors
Michael J. Telch and Eric D. Zaizar
 
3. Intolerance of Uncertainty
Ryan J. Jacoby
 
4. Anxiety Sensitivity
Steven Taylor
 
5. Disgust Sensitivity
Peter J. de Jong and Charmaine Borg
 
6. Distress Intolerance
Caitlin A. Stamatis, Stephanie E. Hudiburgh, and Kiara R. Timpano
 
7. Experiential Avoidance
Sarah A. Hayes-Skelton and Elizabeth H. Eustis
 
8. Worry and Rumination
Thane M. Erickson, Michelle G. Newman, and Jamie L. Tingey
 
9. Perfectionism
Ariella P. Lenton-Brym and Martin M. Antony
 
10. Metacognition
Adrian Wells and Lora Capobianco
 
11. Autobiographical Memory Bias
Mia Romano, Ruofan Ma, Morris Moscovitch, and David A. Moscovitch
 
12. Attention Bias
Omer Azriel and Yair Bar-Haim
 
13. Interpersonal Processes
Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Donald H. Baucom
 
II. TREATMENT MECHANISMS
 
Introduction to Part II: Why Mechanisms of Change?
Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Shannon M. Blakey
 
14. Habituation
Jessica L. Maples-Keller and Sheila A. M. Rauch
 
15. Inhibitory Learning
Amy R. Sewart and Michelle G. Craske
 
16. Cognitive Change via Rational Discussion
Lillian Reuman, Jennifer L. Buchholz, Shannon M. Blakey, and Jonathan S. Abramowitz
 
17. Behavioral Activation
Matt R. Judah, Jennifer Dahne, Rachel Hershenberg, and Daniel F. Gros
 
18. Mindfulness and Acceptance
Clarissa W. Ong, Brooke M. Smith, Michael E. Levin, and Michael P. Twohig
 
19. Pharmacological Enhancement of Extinction Learning
Valérie La Buissonnière-Ariza, Sophie C. Schneider, and Eric A. Storch
 
20. Interpretation Bias Modification
Courtney Beard and Andrew D. Peckham
 
Index
 About the Editors