Therapeutic factors in treating anxiety disorders

This article is a condensation of several chapters from Principles of Therapeutic Change That Work edited by L.G. Castonguay and L.E. Beutler. The authors present the work of M.G. Newman, W.B. Stiles, A. Janeck, and S.R. Woody (2006), who outline an integrative model for effective psychotherapy of anxiety disorders. The authors also summarize, review, and extend several chapters on the current knowledge about therapeutic technique factors (S.R. Woody & T.H. Ollendick, 2006), participant factors (M.G. Newman, P. Crits-Christoph, M.B. Connelly Gibbons, & T.M. Erickson, 2006), and relationship factors (W.B. Stiles & B.E. Wolfe, 2006), which are related to anxiety disorder treatment outcome. The authors then place these factors and their practice implications within a common framework. Their integration is based on (a) the concept of appropriate responsiveness, and (b) a distinction between actions and achievements.