Supporting Clinicians in Implementing Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Related Disorders

Exposure therapy is the gold standard treatment for anxiety and related disorders. Despite its strong evidence, it is rarely delivered in routine clinical settings. A growing body of literature has identified factors that impede delivery of exposure therapy and strategies that can increase its use. This review of research from the past 5 years: (1) summarizes barriers to delivering exposure; (2) identifies evidence-based strategies to support clinicians in increasing their delivery of exposure; and (3) highlights emerging trends and challenges in supporting clinicians to use exposure.

Barriers to delivering exposure occur at the clinician, client, and organizational levels. Clinician training and organizational policies need to directly address multi-level barriers to support clinicians in using exposure. Technology-related considerations (e.g., virtual reality, telehealth) should be considered and clinicians should receive support from others (e.g., bachelor's-level providers; family peer navigators) to address increasing rates of anxiety disorders.