Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias

Whether it’s dogs, spiders, blood, heights or some other fear, specific phobias are one of the most prevalent mental health problems, affecting as many as one in eight people. In recent years, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as particularly effective in treating young people and adults with specific phobias. And of these methods, one-session treatment stands out as a long-lasting, cost-effective intervention of choice.

Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias not only provides a summary of the evidence base, it also serves as a practical reference and training guide. This concise volume examines the phenomenology, epidemiology, and etiology of phobias, laying the groundwork for subsequent discussion of assessment strategies, empirically sound one-session treatment methods, and special topics. In addition, expert contributors address challenges common to exposure therapy, offer age-appropriate guidelines for treating young clients, and describe innovative computer-assisted techniques.

Organized to be read individually or in sequence, chapters delve into key areas, including:

• Evidence-based assessment and treatment of specific phobias in children, adolescents, and adults.
• One-session treatment theory and practice with children, adolescents, and adults.
• Handling difficult cases of specific phobias in youth.
• Interventions for specific phobias in special populations.
• Training and assessing therapists in one-session treatment.
• Ethical issues in considering exposure.

Intensive One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in child, school, clinical, and counseling psychology; social work; and general and special education.

• Anxiety disorders
• Assessment
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Behavioral assessment
• CBT
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Developmental disorders
• Diagnostic criteria
• Ethical issues
• Evidence-based practice
• Exposure therapy
• Fear hierarchy
• Functional assessment
• Intellectual disabilities
• OST
• One-session treatment
• Phobia
• Prevention
• Treatment

From the reviews:

“The current text is indeed a welcome addition to the literature because of its breadth of coverage but also because it provides an up-to-date overview of the literature. … For therapists who regularly treat clients with specific phobias, the text really is a must have. … For those with a more academic or research interest in the treatment of specific phobias, not only does the text provide an up-to-date overview of OST research, but it also highlights where gaps remain.” (Robert J. Edelmann, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 58 (7), February, 2013)

• Dept. Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA

  Thompson E. Davis III

• Child Study Center, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA

  Thomas H. Ollendick

• Dept. Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

  Lars-Göran Öst

Thompson E. Davis III, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. and is Founder/Director of the Psychological Services for Youth Clinic (PSYC) and the Laboratory for Anxiety, Phobia, and Internalizing Disorder Studies (LAPIS). He has been researching and conducting One-Session Treatment for more than 10 years and is the author of more than 40 publications, with several on One-Session Treatment. His research and clinical interests focus on anxiety disorders, particularly the assessment and treatment of specific phobias in children and adults.

Thomas H. Ollendick, Ph.D., is University Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. He is the author or editor of 25 books, 75 book chapters, and 350+ research articles. He is the current editor of Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review and Behavior Therapy. His research interests focus on social learning theory and phobic and anxiety disorders in youth.

Lars-Göran Öst, Ph.D., is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Stockholm University in Sweden.  He is the author of approximately 200 articles, chapters, and books and has been researching anxiety disorders for 30 years. He originally developed One-Session Treatment and has carried out a series of child and adult treatment studies demonstrating the treatment’s efficacy and comparability to other empirically-supported treatments. His research interests focus on anxiety and phobia in children and adults.

Policies and ethics