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Strategies for Treating Comorbidity Among Anxiety-Related Disorders and Depression

Martin Antony

9 Feb 2024

Introduction

On February 9th 2024, Dr. Martin Antony delivered a 90-minute webinar on different approaches to treating comorbidity among people with anxiety-related disorders and depression. This on-demand workshop is a recording of that presentation.

Content

Anxiety and related disorders are conditions characterized by excessive fear and anxiety. These include conditions that are classified as anxiety disorders in DSM-5-TR (e.g., panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias) as well as certain other conditions (e.g., obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, illness anxiety disorder). Anxiety and fear can arise in response to perceived danger or threat, either present or anticipated. Anxiety and related disorders can be understood in terms of their emotional, cognitive, and behavioural components, with different disorders being distinguished based on their specific features (e.g., anxiety and fear triggers; anxiety-related predictions, behavioural responses). Although they are classified as distinct conditions, anxiety and related disorders typically co-exist, with almost 50% of individuals with one of these conditions also experiencing another. Further, around three quarters of individuals with one anxiety-related disorder experience either another anxiety-related disorder or depression.

This presentation will discuss different approaches to treating comorbidity among people with anxiety and related disorders, including (1) using a standard treatment for the most significant problem only (e.g., treating problem A and then evaluating the impact of treatment on problem B), (2) treating conditions sequentially (e.g., using a standard treatment for problem A followed by a standard treatment for problem B), (3) treating conditions concurrently (e.g., combining strategies from standard treatments of both problem A and problem B), (4) using standard transdiagnostic treatments designed to target features that exist across emotional disorders like problem A and problem B, and (5) using a case formulation approach to develop an individually tailored treatment for your client. The presentation will help to answer questions such as:
How can I select which problem to focus on in treatment?
When is it important to focus on multiple problems vs. just the most significant one?
What are the most widely used transdiagnostic treatments for anxiety and related disorders?
How can I use case formulation to develop an individually tailored treatment that is likely to help my client?

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session, attendees will learn to:
• Describe how comorbidity can impact upon treatment outcome in cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety and related disorders.
• Describe evidence-based transdiagnostic approaches for treating anxiety and related disorders
• Describe how case formulation can be used to develop an individually tailored treatment plan for a client.

Training Modalities

The workshop will include didactic content as well as opportunities for Q&A.

Key References

Barlow, D.H., & Farchione, T.J. (Eds.) (2018). Applications of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders. Oxford University Press.

Barlow, D.H., Farchione, T.J., Sauer-Zacala, S., Latin, H.M., Ellard, K.K., Bullis, J.R., Bentley, K.H., Boettcher, H.T., & Cassiello-Robbins, C. (2018). Unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (therapist guide). Oxford University Press.

Barlow, D.H., Sauer-Zacala, S., Farchione, T.J., Latin, H.M., Ellard, K.K., Bullis, J.R., Bentley, K.H., Boettcher, H.T., & Cassiello-Robbins, C. (2018). Unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (workbook, 2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Kuyken, W., Padesky, C.A., & Dudley, R. (2009). Collaborative case conceptualization: Working effectively with clients in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Guilford Press.

Norton, P.J. (2012). Group cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety: A transdiagnostic treatment manual. Guilford Press.

Norton, P.J., & Antony, M.M. (2021). The anti-anxiety program: A workbook of proven strategies to overcome worry, panic, and phobias. Guilford Press.

About the presenter

Dr. Martin M. Antony is Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University and provincial clinical and training lead for the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program. Previously, he was founding director of both the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic and the Psychology Residency Program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.  He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a past president of the Canadian Psychological Association and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. 

Dr. Antony has published 33 books and over 300 scientific articles and chapters in areas related to cognitive-behavioural therapy and anxiety-related disorders. He has given more than 425 presentations to audiences across four continents, and has been interviewed, featured, or quoted more than 450 times in various print, radio, television, and online media outlets, including BBC News, CBC, Chatelaine Magazine, CNN, CTV, the Globe and Mail, National Post, New York Times, O (Oprah) Magazine, Prevention Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Scientific American Mind, Toronto Star, USA Today, Washington Post, and many others.

Who should attend

This presentation is suitable for any clinician who works with individuals with anxiety and related disorders, or students from a range of mental health professions. Some knowledge of cognitive-behavioural therapy will be an asset, but is not required.

Low Intensity clinical contact hours survey - BABCP Low Intensity Special Interest Group

Please click below if you are interested in contributing to the survey.

 

The BACP Low Intensity SIG are interested in the impact of clinical contact hours on Low Intensity/Wellbeing Practitioner wellbeing. This questionnaire contains six multi-choice questions and a free text box for you to share your experiences. The answers to these questions will help the BABCP SIG plan how to meet CPD topics and other developments within the SIG.  The SIG hope to produce a write up of the answers to this questionnaire to be shared with SIG members and to be used in training.

View Survey

This FREE conference is for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners working in Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression services and is brought to you by Bespoke Mental Health in collaboration with the NHS England Talking Therapies National PWP Leads Network

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