Treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia: Going beyond the barrier

Proposes that the combination of network theory (NT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) offer the opportunity to understand better the barriers to recovery and provides a methodology for breaking through panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). The author states that the current approach to augmenting the efficacy of treatment for PDA has been to add more components to basic exposure treatment. However, at best, these additions will yield only small increments in treatment effectiveness because they do not address important stumbling blocks to the progress of treatment. NT, EMDR and the need for such methodologies in the treatment of PDA are discussed. The author presents the case of a 31-yr-old woman with severe PDA attributable to her experiencing of a number of stressors (birth of first child and the dissolving of her parent's marriage, for which her mother blamed her) in close proximity to each other. The combination of NT and EMDR led to the successful treatment of the patient. The author concludes that recasting the theoretical base into an associative network model and utilizing EMDR along with established interventions to alter networks, has opened the door for more effective treatment of PDA.

Journal

English

Alan Goldstein

Goldstein, A. (1995, Fall). Treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia: Going beyond the barrier. In Session: Psychotherapy in Practice, 1(3), 83-98