Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias

Whether it’s dogs, spiders, blood, heights or some other fear, specific phobias are one of the most prevalent mental health problems, affecting as many as one in eight people. In recent years, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as particularly effective in treating young people and adults with specific phobias. And of these methods, one-session treatment stands out as a long-lasting, cost-effective intervention of choice.

Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias not only provides a summary of the evidence base, it also serves as a practical reference and training guide. This concise volume examines the phenomenology, epidemiology, and etiology of phobias, laying the groundwork for subsequent discussion of assessment strategies, empirically sound one-session treatment methods, and special topics. In addition, expert contributors address challenges common to exposure therapy, offer age-appropriate guidelines for treating young clients, and describe innovative computer-assisted techniques.

Organized to be read individually or in sequence, chapters delve into key areas, including:

• Evidence-based assessment and treatment of specific phobias in children, adolescents, and adults.
• One-session treatment theory and practice with children, adolescents, and adults.
• Handling difficult cases of specific phobias in youth.
• Interventions for specific phobias in special populations.
• Training and assessing therapists in one-session treatment.
• Ethical issues in considering exposure.

Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in child, school, clinical, and counseling psychology; social work; and general and special education.

Preface;  T. E. Davis III, T. H. Ollendick, L.-G. Öst.- PART I: SPECIFIC PHOBIA ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT.- Chapter 1: Specific phobia—Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Etiology; P. Muris, H. Merckelbach.- Chapter 2: Evidence-based Assessment and Treatment of Specific Phobias in Adults; H. K. Hood, M. M. Antony.- Chapter 3: Evidence-Based Assessment and Treatment of Specific Phobias in Children and Adolescents; T. H. Ollendick, T. E. Davis III.- PART II: ONE-SESSION TREATMENT FOR SPECIFIC PHOBIA IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN.- Chapter 4: One-Session Treatment: Principles and Procedures with Adults; L.-G. Öst.- Chapter 5: One-Session Treatment: Principles and Procedures with Children and Adolescents; T. E. Davis III, T. H. Ollendick, E. T. Reuther, M. S. Munson.- Chapter 6: Real-World Applications of One-Session Treatment; L. Reuterskiöld, L.-G. Öst.- Chapter 7: Handling Difficult-to-Treat Cases of Specific Phobias in Childhood and Adolescence; T. H. Ollendick, V. C. Sirbu.- PART III: SPECIAL TOPICS ON THE INTENSIVE TREATMENT OF SPECIFIC PHOBIAS.- Chapter 8: Training Therapists in One-Session Treatment and Assessing Their Competence; L.-G. Öst.- Chapter 9: Interventions for Specific Phobia in Special Populations; B. M. Rudy, T. E. Davis III.- Chapter 10: Ethical Issues When Considering Exposure; K. B. Wolitzky-Taylor, M. A. Viar, B. O. Olatunji.- Chapter 11: Empirical Status of One-Session Treatment; T. E. Davis III, W. S. Jenkins, B. M. Rudy.- Chapter 12: Using Virtual Reality and Other Computer Technologies to Implement Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Youth; L. D. Miller, C. Silva, S. Bouchard, C. Bélanger, T. Taucer-Samson.