Treating Stress and
Anxiety: A Practitioner’s Guide to Evidence-Based Approaches
By Lillian Nejad, Ph.D. and Katerina Volny, BSc.
Reviewed
by Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.
Treating
Stress and Anxiety by Lillian Nejad and Katerina Volny
is a book that should be on the desk of every practitioner
who works with adults experiencing stress, anxiety, phobias,
or PTSD. The book provides treatment plans and goals for
the practitioner, as well as a variety of educational client
handouts (in PDF file format) contained on a CD. The files
are ready for the practitioner to print out for each client
as needed (Adobe Reader is the software you need on your
computer).
In addition,
the authors have produced an audio CD Relaxation Techniques,
which can be purchased separately. The audio CD contains
the voices of the authors, taking the listener through a
series of relaxation exercises that reduce stress and
anxiety. The authors recommend that listeners practice
their favorite exercises daily. Each exercise is
accompanied by a brief explanation and the exercises range
from approximately 2 to 19 minutes. Most of the exercises
require that the listener is seated or reclining, although
one is a “walking relaxation” exercise. The background music
and the voices of Nejad and Volny are soothing and the
scripting is well-done. Anyone could benefit from listening
to the CD whether they read the book or not. Therapists may
want to recommend the CD to their clients.
The book’s
approach is mainly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, with
passing references to additional modalities such as
psychodynamics, NLP, and hypnosis. The text contains
assessment and treatment guidelines for practitioners with
the added benefit of handouts and worksheets for clients.
The book begins with an overview of stress and anxiety
disorders, including diagnostic criteria and statistics on
the prevalence of such disorders in the general population.
The second chapter covers risk factors, predisposing
factors, and precipitating factors, with advice on how to
assess the client’s readiness for treatment, as well as
possible barriers to treatment, such as social stigma.
Nejad and
Volny go on to cover various treatment modalities and
self-help strategies. I think every therapist could make
use of the handouts in this section, which include
information about proper nutrition, exercise, sleep, time
management, and problem solving.
The authors
devote a chapter each to relaxation and breathing exercises,
managing negative and obsessive thoughts, facing fear, and
preventing relapse. The chapter on preventing relapse
includes a relapse prevention plan; something often ignored
in clinical settings. There is also information on
assessing and treating depression, substance abuse, and
anger management, as frequently encountered components of
anxiety. The book ends with a chapter on group therapy for
stress and anxiety disorders.
The
evidence-based component of the author’s model shows mental
health practitioners how to assess a client’s presenting
issues (with checklists for behavioral, physical, cognitive
and emotional symptoms), set specific treatment outcomes,
involve the client in the treatment process, monitor
progress, and assess the result of treatment. This model is
especially valuable in clinical settings that rely on
external funding and in research settings that test the
efficacy of various treatment approaches. With
evidence-based approaches, the results are measurable, and
the practitioner can answer the question, “Did therapy work
for this client?”
With anxiety
disorders on the increase, this book is much needed and will
be much appreciated by practitioners working in a wide range
of settings. I recommend it highly and I expect my copy
will be quite dog-eared in a matter of months.
Reviewed by:
Judith E.
Pearson, Ph.D. is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and
Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, with a private
psychotherapy/coaching practice in Springfield, VA. She has
published The Weight, Hypnotherapy and You Weight
Reduction Program: A Manual for Hypnotherapists and NLP
Practitioners. Her web site is
www.engagethepower.com.
Be
confident, more relaxed and in control. Be successful in
love, work and so much more! 
