Anxiety

A406 The Anxious Brain

Sharpen the focus of your treatment of clients with anxiety disorders by learning the underlying neurobiological causes of anxiety symptoms. In this course, you'll learn how to select the treatment methods that will give your clients the fastest symptom relief of panic, generalized anxiety or social anxiety disorders. The instructor will discuss the underlying brain structures and functional problems that cause the different types of anxiety symptoms, offer specific strategies to change physiology and behavior for symptom relief, and explain how psychotherapy works to calm the anxious brain.

Meet The Instructor

Margaret Wehrenberg, Psy.D., has been in private practice as an addictions counselor and a psychologist for more than 20 years. She is the author of the forthcoming W.W. Norton book The Anxious Brain: The Neurobiological Basis of Anxiety Disorders and How to Effectively Treat Them.

Course Contents

Session 1: The basics of the panicky brain • Structures and neurobiological factors

Session 2: Techniques for managing physiological arousal in panic and acute anxiety • Helping a client who is anxious while in session

Session 3: The basics of brain structure and function in creating generalized anxiety disorder

Session 4: Techniques to manage cognitive problems of GAD, especially aspects of rumination

Session 5: The neurobiological basis of social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity • How to prevent the sensitive child from developing social anxiety

Session 6: The most effective approach for changing the avoidant behaviors of social anxiety • The lessons from panic and GAD that support behavioral change in social anxiety

Learning Objectives

1. Identify what underlying brain structure and function problems cause different kinds of anxious symptoms.
2. Describe the treatment methods for specific symptoms at specific stages in the therapy process.
3. Name 3 methods to change physiology, cognition, and behavior to bring about the fastest symptom relief
4. Discuss the neurobiological basis of social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity

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