ADVANCES IN THE PSYCHOSOCIAL TREATMENT OF ANXIETY DISORDERS - IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL-HEALTH CARE

Recent developments in the psychosocial treatments for anxiety disorde rs suggest that we have reached an early plateau. Evidence now exists on the effectiveness of psychosocial treatment approaches for every an xiety disorder when compared with no treatment or credible psychosocia l placebos. In many cases these procedures have limited clinical effec tiveness and much remains to be learned about the disseminability and clinical utility of these approaches in the context of emerging nation al health care plans. We are just beginning the first generation of mu ltisite studies examining the potentially synergistic effects of prove n psychosocial treatments and proven drug treatments. These studies th at have substantial significance for national health care are reviewed and some preliminary results are reported.