The Comprehensive Panic Profile
The CPP is a self-administered questionnaire. It has 7 sections. Each of its first 5 sections looks at one area of adjustment associated with panic attcks. Its final two sections examine two areas that have been shown to be associated with improvement. The CPP is designed to:
Data from the CPP is analyzed to produce two reports. Which report you see depends on where you are in the treatment process when you take the CPP. The Pre-Intervention Report is produced when you take the CPP before engaging in treatment. The Post-Intervention Report gives you feedback when you return to take the CPP again following treatment.
The Pre-Intervention Report compares your result to the results of others who have taken the CPP prior to engaging in any treatment intervention.
The Post-Intervention Report compares your result to the results of others who have engaged in treatment.
Coping With Panic
Could you use a book that is the most widely validated self-help book ever written? Coping With Panic, by George A. Clum, Ph.D., himself a sufferer of panic and an internationally known researcher in anxiety disorders, is now in its 7th printing. Coping With Panic is intended for use by individuals who experience problems with panic attacks and avoidance of situations associated with those attacks. Coping With Panic is based on the most current empirical findings on how to treat panic disorder and is informed by Dr. Clum's extensive clinical experience and his own experience with panic. This book provides an easy-to-read step-by-step guideline for overcoming panic problems and restoring individuals who previously avoided panic-inducing situations to a more fully functioning life.
Coping With Panic is unique among self-help books in that its effectiveness has been tested in five separate research studies at three major universities and one general hospital in two countries (See Note 1). In each of these controlled studies, Coping With Panic has been shown to be highly effective, both as a stand-alone intervention and in conjunction with individual and group treatments. It currently is used as part of a treatment package for individuals with panic disorders in the Manitoba Province of Canada. The timeframe for applying this approach - eight weeks - is also one of the briefest for treating panic disorder. Individuals whom have used this program have been uniformly laudatory in their evaluations.
Coping With Panic covers such topics as factors that predispose to developing panic disorder, understanding the self-perpetuating nature of panic, and coping strategies for eliminating the symptoms and cognitions of panic disorder and the avoidance behavior of agoraphobia. Numerous case studies are provided that encourage identification with others who have been helped by this approach and that bring the treatment process to life. Expected resistances to change are also identified and strategies provided to overcome these resistances.
Note 1: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Washington State University, Oregon State University and St. Boniface General Hospital
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 What is Panic?
Chapter 2 What Causes Panic?
Chapter 3 The Symptoms of Panic
Chapter 4 Evaluating Coping Strategies
Chapter 5 Coping With the Symptoms of Panic
Chapter 6 Panic Thinking: Catastrophic Cognitions
Chapter 7 Coping With Catastrophic Cognitions
Chapter 8 Strategies in Action
Chapter 9 The What and Why of Avoidance Strategies
Chapter 10 Eliminating Avoidance Strategies
Chapter 11 A Consumer's Guide to Treatment
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Coping With Panic Workbook
The Workbook to Accompany Coping With Panic is an important complement to Dr. Clum's book, Coping With Panic. Drs. Walker and Eldridge developed this workbook to provide panic sufferers with step by step exercises for understanding panic, changing the basic mechanisms thought to contribute to the maintenance of panic and evaluating one's progress from working on these exercises. It is designed to be self-administered and may be utilized on one's own or while undergoing some other form of intervention. It differs from the book Coping With Panic in that the exercises provided are meant to be completed within the workbook itself. For each exercise, the panic sufferer is directed to the complementary chapter in Coping With Panic, is given an explanation of why that exercise is important, and is then given an illustration of how to complete the exercise. The workbook is organized by week, with one assignment or task provided for each week
The Workbook to Accompany Coping With Panic has been evaluated in an extensive treatment program employing individuals suffering from panic disorder and agoraphobia in the Manitoba province of Canada. In this large-scale study the authors were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of their workbook whether the intervention was self-administered, administered in a group setting directed by a professional, or administered in a group setting directed by a trained non-professional who had been effectively treated for a panic disorder. Individuals who have gone through this treatment program have praised both its effectiveness and its straightforward, no-nonsense approach.
The Workbook to Accompany Coping With Panic is easy to read and easy to follow. The organization of the tasks makes sense , with each task building on the previous accomplishments. The authors cover such topics as understanding the nature of panic, the causes of panic, how to evaluate treatment progress, understanding coping strategies for dealing with panic and how to sequence strategies to provide the highest likelihood for a positive outcome.
Table of Contents
Week 1: What is Panic?
Week 2: What Causes Panic?
Week 3: The Symptoms of Panic
Week 4: Coping With Panic
Week 5: Catastrophic Thoughts
Week 6: Strategies in Action
Week 7: Avoidance Strategies
Week 8: More on Avoidance Strategies
Week 9: Eliminating Avoidance
Week 10: Avoiding Bodily Sensations
Panic Monitoring Log
Individuals with panic disorder profit more from therapy when they have a clear idea of what the goals of therapy are and can chart their progress toward these goals. The Panic Monitoring Log was developed to provide the panic sufferer with an easy-to-use manual for charting therapeutic progress. It is also intended to assist the clinician who is treating panic sufferers by providing him/her with a week-to-week picture of each client's progress.
The Panic Monitoring Log is unique in that it permits daily monitoring of functioning in five important areas:
Daily monitoring is converted into weekly charts that allow the client and clinician to view the client's progress. Intended as a therapeutic aid to the treatment approach provided in Coping With Panic and the workbook to Accompany coping With Panic, the Panic Monitoring Log permits continuous recording of progress for eight weeks.
Research has demonstrated that monitoring and feedback of therapeutic progress is a powerful treatment aid. The importance of goal setting, monitoring, and feedback is especially powerful for individuals suffering from anxiety disorders.
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Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic
The Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic was developed by Dr. Joseph Wright to fill an important gap in the long-term treatment and prevention of panic disorders. Based on the finding that panic disorder follows a chronic course with frequent relapses, the Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic was designed as a program for reducing vulnerability to relapse. It is designed to be self-administered or to be used in conjunction with follow-up supportive therapy or self-help groups.
Based on a careful analysis by Dr. Wright and Dr. George A. Clum of factors that contribute to relapse for individuals with anxiety disorders, the Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic targets each of these factors. Included in the manual are sub-programs for:
This manual contains numerous case studies that illustrate the problems likely encountered after treatment as well as case studies of approaches likely to be successful. The manual is intended to function as a workbook on preventing relapse. As such, numerous self-administered assignments are provided that augment assignments from the treatment manuals.
Programs that target relapse prevention for anxiety are just beginning to be developed and evaluated. Self-administered relapse prevention programs have, with the exception of our evaluation of this manual, not yet been subjected to scientific scrutiny. The one exception to this is a study recently completed on the effectiveness of the Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic, which has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Anxiety Disorders. In this study, panic sufferers who completed our self-help program were assigned to either the Relapse Manual group or no further treatment. Individuals who received the manual were contacted briefly by phone once monthly to determine whether they were using the manual and to answer any questions they might have. Individuals in this group showed continued improvement compared to individuals who agreed to postpone receiving the manual for six months. The results of this study are very promising. They indicate that post-treatment improvement for panic sufferers can be enhanced using our Relapse Prevention Manual for Panic.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Your Relapse Prevention Program
Chapter 2: Beginning Your Relapse Prevention Program and a Review of Your Treatment Gains
Chapter 3: Guarding Against Unrealistic Expectations or How To Avoid Viewing Your Recovery in All-Or-Nothing Terms
Chapter 4: Enlisting Social Support for Your Relapse Prevention Program
Chapter 5: A Therapeutic Self-Exposure and Coping Skills Training Program
Chapter 6: Stress Management Techniques for Reducing Panic Attacks
Chapter 7: How to Respond to a Setback
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