Behavior Therapy Summarized

by Dr. Craig April, Director of The April Center for Anxiety Attack Management - Los Angeles

www.KickFear.com

Behavior therapy is key in changing how you respond to your anxiety.

The more we behave in one way when faced with a thought, situation, event or object, the stronger a behavioral habit becomes.

Lets address this on a small scale. Where do you sit in your home or apartment? Is it a certain chair or a section of the couch? Once identified, try to change it for a couple of days. Already uncomfortable? We've just identified an entrenched behavior pattern.

Now think about this as related to your anxiety.

Most likely, the behaviors you are engaged in (prior to anxiety treatment) to cope with your anxiety have been focused on escape. They might now be strong behavior patterns. This is what behavior therapy would help you modify, so that you develop new behaviors that truly reduce your anxiety symptoms as opposed to avoidance behaviors that serve to maintain your anxiety.

Behavior therapy involves the teaching of specific strategies and techniques, often with homework assignments, to change destructive or problematic/unhealthy behaviors into empowering, constructive behavior patterns that lead to anxiety relief.

Follow this link for more on behavior therapy for anxiety.