A multimodal approach to the treatment of agoraphobia: four case studies

It is argued that while in vivo exposure methods may be the treatments of choice for the agoraphobic patient, other approaches may be required for complete or significant symptom-removal. Four females, each meeting the DSM-III criteria for a diagnosis of agoraphobic disorder, were treated with in vivo exposure. However, for three of the four patients symptom removal occurred only when other methods were employed on an as-required basis for each particular patient. Two of the four patients were asymptomatic both at post-treatment and follow-ups. Over the course of the treatment, the remaining two patients made gains which were essentially maintained at the follow-ups.