Emotion and the Acceptance-Based Approaches to the Anxiety Disorders

Abstract

(From the chapter) Recent years have seen an eruption of interest and subsequent research on what are now being termed, acceptance-based behavioral treatments. Acceptance-based behavioral approaches may be enhanced by their explicit incorporation of emotion theory, basic research on emotions, attention to the role of emotions in psychopathology, and emotion-focused interventions that effectively elicit emotional states capable of being addressed within a therapeutic context. This chapter aims to (1) illustrate the relevance of basic research on emotion to clinical psychological endeavors; (2) argue for the importance of examining different facets of disruption and dysregulation in emotions as central factors in the anxiety disorders; and (3) review how the traditions of cognitive-behavioral and experiential orientations have evolved into the increasingly congruent approaches of acceptance-based behavioral approaches and emotion-focused therapy, respectively; and (4) demonstrate how this convergence, lessons from basic affective sciences and the nexus between emotions and psychopathology can inform acceptance-based behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)