The recommended treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) incorporating exposure and response prevention (ERP), which is effective for approximately 50% of patients. However, there has been little advance in treatment outcomes since the introduction of ERP in 1979. It has been suggested that some…

In recent years there has been widespread acceptance that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for bulimia nervosa. The cognitive behavioral treatment of bulimia nervosa (CBT-BN) was first described in 1981. Over the past decades the theory and treatment have evolved in response to a variety of challenges. The treatment has…

Despite being the most effective treatment available, as many as one third of patients who receive exposure and response prevention (ERP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not initially respond to treatment. Recent research suggests that the n-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor partial agonist D-Cycloserine (DCS) may speed up the course…

Nadler (this issue), in his commentary of our article, "Addressing Relapse in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder: Methods for Optimizing Long-Term Treatment Outcomes" (Arch & Craske, 2011), argues that we misrepresent the role of panic attacks within learning theory and overlook cognitive treatment targets. He presents several case…

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a leading cause of health-related disability. There are two evidence-based treatments for OCD, pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy consisting of exposure and response prevention (EX/RP). Although effective, outcome from both treatments is often limited by patient lack of adherence to the…

To date, no empirically based inpatient intervention for individuals who have attempted suicide exists. We present an overview of a novel psychotherapeutic approach, Post-Admission Cognitive Therapy (PACT), currently under development and empirical testing for inpatients who have been admitted for a recent suicide attempt. PACT is adapted from an…

China is considered to be the new frontier of the global AIDS pandemic. Although effective treatment for HIV is becoming widely available in China, adherence to treatment remains a challenge. This study aimed to adapt an intervention promoting HIV-medication adherence--favorably evaluated in the West--for Chinese HIV-positive patients. The…

Mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1990; MBCT; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002) have demonstrated effectiveness in a number of distinct clinical populations. However, few studies have evaluated MBCT within a heterogeneous group of psychiatric adult outpatients. This study examined whether a wider variety of patients…

Data suggest that individuals dealing with a cancer diagnosis are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and psychological distress when they cope with their condition from a stance of emotional and cognitive acceptance (e.g. Dunkel, et al., 1992; Stanton, et al., 2000). Although traditional CBT often includes some acceptance-oriented…

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective in preventing suicide-related behavior. However, it is often difficult to engage patients who are at-risk in treatment. Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been shown to increase treatment engagement and improve treatment outcomes when it is used to complement other treatments. As a…

There is substantial evidence for the effectiveness of psychological treatments for OCD, and various approaches have been widely recommended. These approaches tend to be characterized by exposure and response prevention (ERP) and also tend to be applied equally to all forms of OCD. Patients/clients (and some therapists) often find ERP to be a…

In this article we illustrate how we utilize acceptance and mindfulness techniques in our treatment (Culturally Adapted CBT, or CA-CBT) for traumatized refugees and ethnic minority populations. We present a Nodal Network Model (NNM) of Affect to explain the treatment's emphasis on body-centered mindfulness techniques and its focus on psychological…

This paper focuses on the integration of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of eating disorders. Although CBT is regarded as the treatment of choice in this population, it nevertheless has limitations: some patients fail to engage, drop out from treatment prematurely, or simply do not improve.…

Massed exposure has gained acceptance as an effective method to treat anxiety disorders. When using this intervention in patients presenting with more than one anxiety disorder, specific treatment options need to be discussed. Should exposure be applied in sequential order for each of the comorbid disorders? Or can exposure sessions also be…

Motivational Interviewing (MI) has recently been applied to the treatment of anxiety disorders in an effort to bolster engagement with and response rates to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In a recent randomized control trial, the addition of MI as a pretreatment compared to no pretreatment was found to significantly improve response to CBT…