Exposure Therapy and Its Mechanisms

Abstract

Exposure therapy is the gold-standard treatment approach for pathological anxiety. This therapeutic approach builds on principles of extinction training from traditional fear conditioning and extinction protocols. In this chapter, we discuss principles of exposure therapy in the clinic and the laboratory experimental results that guide our decisions in the therapy. We discuss emotional processing theory and inhibitory learning principles, with a focus on expectation violation. We conclude with future research directions needed to improve exposure therapy outcomes among patients with anxiety-related disorders.