Handling Difficult-to-Treat Cases of Specific Phobias in Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

Although cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) interventions have enjoyed considerable success in the treatment of specific phobias and other anxiety disorders, a significant minority of youth do not respond favorably to these treatments (Davis and Ollendick 2005; Ollendick and King 1998; Zlomke and Davis 2008). In this chapter we will briefly examine studies that examine predictors of response to treatment outcome, present an algorithm for dealing with youth and their families who show a suboptimal response to treatment, and illustrate our approach to handling these cases via a case study of a child with a severe phobia of thunderstorms.