Je. Hecker et al., SELF-DIRECTED VERSUS THERAPIST-DIRECTED COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT FOR PANIC DISORDER, Journal of anxiety disorders, 10(4), 1996, pp. 253-265
This study investigated two approaches to providing cognitive behavior
al therapy for panic disorder: self-directed and therapist-directed. S
ixteen individuals with panic disorder were randomly assigned to the t
reatment conditions. All participants were provided with a workbook de
scribing cognitive-behavioral treatment (Mastery of Your Anxiety and P
anic by Barlow & Craske). Therapist-directed participants worked throu
gh the material over 12 weekly therapy sessions. Therapists met with s
elf-directed participants three times over 12 weeks to assign readings
and answer questions. A fourth meeting was devoted to posttreatment a
ssessment. Participants in both conditions improved with treatment and
maintained their gains at 6-months follow-up. There were no differenc
es between the treatment conditions on outcome measures. Forty percent
and 28.6% of self-directed and therapist-directed participants, respe
ctively, met conservative criteria for high end-state functioning at f
ollow-up.