The Ten Best-Ever Anxiety Treatment Techniques: Updated Strategies to Help Even the Most Challenging Clients

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Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD Related seminars and products

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Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist, is the author of nine books on the treatment of anxiety and depression, including her most recent e-book, Pandemic Anxiety: Fear, Stress, and Loss in Traumatic Times (January, 2021), bestselling book, The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques (W.W. Norton, 2018), and You Can Handle It: 10 Steps to Shift Stress from Problem to Possibility (PESI, 2017). She has also written a book for the general public, The 10 Best Anxiety Busters.

An expert on the treatment of anxiety and depression, she also has extensive training and expertise in the neurobiology of psychological disorders. In addition to clinical work, she coaches business professionals on managing anxiety and has contributed articles for the Psychotherapy Networker magazine. She has produced Relaxation for Tension and Worry, audio soundtracks for breathing, muscle relaxation and imagery to use with anxious clients. Margaret blogs on depression for Psychology Today. Noted for humor, pragmatic treatment approaches, and her interactive teaching style, Dr. Wehrenberg is a sought-after speaker for conferences and trainings, consistently getting the highest ratings for her dynamic presentation and high-quality content. She is one of PESI’s most highly rated speakers and her evaluation from the most seasoned professionals often rank her training “as among the best I have ever attended.”
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She is an international presenter and receives compensation. Dr. Wehrenberg receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg is a member of the Anxiety Disorder Association of America.

Objectives

1. Determine the neurobiological causes of panic, generalized anxiety, and social anxiety and ascertain how this information impacts treatment decisions.
2. Implement strategies for stress management to reduce symptoms of anxiety in clients, including lifestyle changes, cognitive interventions and time management tools.
3. Perform effective use of diaphragmatic breathing techniques for physiological modulation in the treatment of anxiety.
4. Demonstrate how the process of memory reconsolidation can be utilized to reduce reactivity to trauma cues, including shame trauma, that trigger social anxiety or panic attacks and sets up effective exposures to promote rapid recovery.
5. Integrate specific clinical techniques to address persistent worry and understand how this changes the neurobiology of ruminative thought patterns in clients.
6. Utilize cognitive therapy interventions with clients to manage perfectionism, procrastination and rigid approaches to problems.

Outline

Neurobiological Basis of Panic, Worry & Anxiety

• Why & how psychotherapy works to “use the brain to change the brain”
• Pragmatic application of neuroscience to provide effective treatment
• Presentation of anxiety when comorbid with depressions
• Identify lifestyle contributions to anxiety
  • Impact of cannabis, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco/vaping, sugar
  • Physical conditions that mimic panic
• Explore potential uses for medication
  • When to refer for medication
  • Discontinuing medication under medical guidance

Purpose of Worry

• FOUR reason worry persists and the methods to manage those
• Cognitive interventions to reduce persistent rumination
• Eliminating worry: TWO methods to “contain worry”

Techniques That WORK to Modulate Physiology

• FOUR important lifestyle changes to reduce anxiety
• Treatment approaches that change brain function for long lasting recovery
• Activate the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN) to increase cognitive flexibility & creative problem solving
• The right way to teach & use diaphragmatic breathing
• Use the Protocol, Predict, Prepare & Plan, to eliminate panic
• Develop the FOUR competencies of stress management
  • Eliminate stressors - Impact of constant technology use
    • Screen time, gaming, texting
    • Respond to new fears created/ exacerbated by social media
  • Managing time & environment
  • Managing attitude
  • Rest & relaxation: Including the powerful Attention Restoration Theory
• Use the powerful, science-based protocol for memory reconsolidation to create successful exposures
• Change catastrophic thinking
• Utilize Mindful Awareness techniques to improve social anxiety fear
• Apply the “3 C’s” model to construct treatment for social anxiety
• Employ techniques for mindfulness to improve the response to exposure methods

Techniques for Treating Cognitive Problems of Anxiety & Panic

• The best thought-replacement methods for worry & rumination
• Identify the person with “Too Much Activity”
• Tools to reduce generalized anxiety in the highly active person
• Cognitive approaches that can intervene on anxiety-producing perfectionism and procrastination that interact with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Techniques for Managing Social Anxiety

• Address the relationship between the desire for significance & social anxiety in Millennials and the iGeneration
• Special considerations for treating different age groups, from children to aging clients
• Identify negative internal dialogue & apply methods from rational emotive therapy to counteract that
• Structure cognitive change through planned “counter-cognitions”
• Construct “In vivo exposure” techniques that optimize recovery from social anxiety at every age
• Utilize Emotional Freedom Techniques & “Tapping In” to diminish anticipatory anxiety

Limitations of the Research & Potential Risks

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Psychiatrists
• Physicians
• Other Mental Health Professionals