The Benefit of an Insight-Oriented and Experiential Approach on Panic and Agoraphobia Symptoms: Results of a Controlled Comparison of Client-Centered Therapy Alone and in Combination with Behavioral Exposure

Background: It is a common view that psychodynamic treatment does not help much to ameliorate the symptoms of panic and agoraphobia. The effects of an insight-oriented treatment on central anxiety symptoms are the subject of the present controlled study. Methods: Forty patients with severe panic and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychotherapy and psychosomatics 1997, Vol.66 (6), p.293-301
Main Authors: Teusch, Ludwig, Böhme, Hildegard, Gastpar, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Agoraphobia - psychology
Agoraphobia - therapy
Anxiety
Behavior Therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Panic Disorder - psychology
Panic Disorder - therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapies. Psychological and clinical counseling
Regular Article
Treatment Outcome
Treatments
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Summary:Background: It is a common view that psychodynamic treatment does not help much to ameliorate the symptoms of panic and agoraphobia. The effects of an insight-oriented treatment on central anxiety symptoms are the subject of the present controlled study. Methods: Forty patients with severe panic and agoraphobia were admitted to an inpatient anxiety treatment program. Most of the patients had been treated by pharmacological means unsuccessfully. The patients were randomly assigned to pure client-centered therapy or to additional behavioral exposure treatment. Client-centered and behavioral agoraphobia manuals were used. The patients were examined on admission, at discharge and at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up for panic (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III-R - SCID), anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Scale), agoraphobia (SCID, Fear Survey Schedule), and depressive (Hamilton Depression Scale) symptoms. Results: Both client-centered treatment and a combination with exposure treatment reduced panic, avoidance and depressive symptoms significantly. For a short period the combined treatment was superior in patients' coping actively with anxiety and improving agoraphobic symptoms. However, at 1-year follow-up there was no further difference in the reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The results are discussed with regard to the combination of these forms of therapy and to widespread skepticism about the efficacy of insight-oriented treatment.
ISSN:0033-3190
1423-0348
DOI:10.1159/000289151