Exposure therapy augmentation: A review and extension of techniques informed by an inhibitory learning approach
Abstract
Although exposure therapy is often considered a gold standard behavioral intervention for pathological anxiety, questions remain surrounding the mechanisms underlying exposure interventions, and some individuals are characterized by suboptimal treatment outcomes. Recently, a formulation known as the inhibitory learning theory, which is grounded in basic science principles of extinction learning and memory, has been proposed to provide a more parsimonious mechanistic explanation for the effects of exposure than previous, habituation-based models [Craske, M.G., Kircanski, K., Zelikowsky, M., Mystkowski, J., Chowdhury, N., & Baker, A. 2008. Optimizing inhibitory learning during exposure therapy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 5-27; Craske, M.G., Treanor, M., Conway, C.C., Zbozinek, T., & Vervliet, B. 2014. Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 58, 10-23]. Strategies informed by this theory are proposed to maximize extinction learning by fostering the development of new, non-threat associations between stimuli in memory and enhancing the accessibility and retrieval of these safety-based associations. This comprehensive review serves as a critical examination of the empirical literature regarding major tenets of inhibitory learning theory and the potential for such techniques to augment exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. Limitations of the extant research, as well as potential future directions, are explored.
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Two factors generally considered unique to CBT are exposure and coping efficacy, or skill building.
“Two factors are generally considered unique to CBT, “exposure” and “coping efficacy”, or skill building [77, 78].”
From A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) study of medication and CBT sequencing in the treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders (2021) · cites this paper as [77]
Tolerance of exposure, with inhibition of an associated avoidance response, is considered the key element in cognitive behavioral therapy of anxiety disorders.
“Tolerance of exposure, with inhibition of an associated avoidance response, is considered the key element in the cognitive behavioral therapy of anxiety disorders [77, 78].”
From A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) study of medication and CBT sequencing in the treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders (2021) · cites this paper as [77]
Exposure generates new learning of safety-based associations that inhibit former fear response associations to the feared stimulus, thereby either extinguishing the fear response or enabling a level of fear tolerance that reduces anxious distress.
“This exposure generates new learning of safety-based associations that inhibit former fear response associations to the feared stimulus [77, 78, 118], thereby either extinguishing the fear response or enabling a level of fear tolerance that reduces anxious distress.”
From A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) study of medication and CBT sequencing in the treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders (2021) · cites this paper as [77]
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- Authors
- Weisman, J. S., & Rodebaugh, T. L.
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-02
- Volume
- 59
- Pages
- 41-51
- ISSN
- 0272-7358
- Cited by
- 117
- References
- 38
- Language
- en
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