Ten Best-Ever Anxiety Treatment Techniques

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Speaker

Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD Related seminars and products

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Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist, is the author of nine books on the treatment of anxiety and depression, including her most recent e-book, Pandemic Anxiety: Fear, Stress, and Loss in Traumatic Times (January, 2021), bestselling book, The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques (W.W. Norton, 2018), and You Can Handle It: 10 Steps to Shift Stress from Problem to Possibility (PESI, 2017). She has also written a book for the general public, The 10 Best Anxiety Busters.

An expert on the treatment of anxiety and depression, she also has extensive training and expertise in the neurobiology of psychological disorders. In addition to clinical work, she coaches business professionals on managing anxiety and has contributed articles for the Psychotherapy Networker magazine. She has produced Relaxation for Tension and Worry, audio soundtracks for breathing, muscle relaxation and imagery to use with anxious clients. Margaret blogs on depression for Psychology Today. Noted for humor, pragmatic treatment approaches, and her interactive teaching style, Dr. Wehrenberg is a sought-after speaker for conferences and trainings, consistently getting the highest ratings for her dynamic presentation and high-quality content. She is one of PESI’s most highly rated speakers and her evaluation from the most seasoned professionals often rank her training “as among the best I have ever attended.”
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She is an international presenter and receives compensation. Dr. Wehrenberg receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg is a member of the Anxiety Disorder Association of America.

Alternate Options

Objectives

1. Determine the neurobiological causes of panic, generalized anxiety, and social anxiety and ascertain how this information impacts treatment decisions.
2. Implement strategies for stress management to reduce symptoms of anxiety in clients, including lifestyle changes, cognitive interventions and time management tools.
3. Perform effective use of diaphragmatic breathing techniques for physiological modulation in the treatment of anxiety.
4. Demonstrate how the process of memory reconsolidation can be utilized to reduce reactivity to trauma cues, including shame trauma, that trigger social anxiety or panic attacks and sets up effective exposures to promote rapid recovery.
5. Integrate specific clinical techniques to address persistent worry and understand how this changes the neurobiology of ruminative thought patterns in clients.
6. Utilize cognitive therapy interventions with clients to manage perfectionism, procrastination and rigid approaches to problems.

Outline

• The causes of panic, generalized anxiety and social anxiety that help select treatment
• Differential diagnosis in children – ADD and ASD
• Treatment approaches that change brain function for long-lasting recovery
• The impact of insomnia in generalized anxiety

• The right way to teach and use diaphragmatic breathing
• Develop the 4 competencies of stress management
• Utilize different types of relaxation and discuss their use in different types of anxiety disorders
• Four important lifestyle changes everyone can make to reduce anxiety

• The best thought-replacement methods for worry and rumination
• Clear the mind of ruminative and racing thoughts
• Know when anger triggers anxiety and how to work with it in worried clients
• How to stop worry before it happens

• Apply the “Three Deep Breaths and Good Preparation” model to construct treatment goals for social anxiety
• Structure cognitive change through planned “counter-cognitions”
• Apply ‘in vivo exposure’ techniques that optimize recovery from social anxiety

• Controlled studies on the human brain structure and function are limited by challenges of studying the brain in action
• New studies continually modify our understanding of how neurotransmitters interact and affect cognition, emotion and behavior
• There are no significant risks associated with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Assessment of an individual’s capacity to understand and utilize an intervention should always precede employment of the technique

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapist
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals

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