Behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders

The aim of this paper is to discuss empirically supported techniques of behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders, to identify the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of them, and to propose a classification of these techniques. The article presents the characteristics of the behavior therapy and behavioral perspective of the causes of behavior that underlies the behavior therapy. It was shown that many behaviors, including anxiety reactions, are the effects of one of the basic learning processes: operant conditioning, classical conditioning and observational learning. Presented were the techniques of the behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders that are derived from these learning processes: implosive therapy, flooding, systematic desensitization, participant modeling, reinforcement and extinction. The laws of learning that constitute the mechanism of the effects of these techniques were pointed out. The classification of the techniques of the behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders was proposed. It was based on various kinds of learning from which they are derived and the laws of learning that constitute the mechanism of their effects. Reviewed were the results of the experimental studies comparing the effectiveness of the techniques of the behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. The techniques of the behavioral therapy are among the most effective methods of treatment for anxiety disorders, and negative beliefs about them among therapists pose a barrier to their use in clinical practice