THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVELY-BASED APPROACHES IN TREATING STRESS-RELATED SYMPTOMS

This article offers evidence for the effectiveness of cognitively-base d approaches to the treatment of four categories of stress-related sym ptoms: psychophysiologic disorders, depression, anxiety, and work stra in. There is considerable evidence from both meta-analytic reviews and independent studies for the effectiveness of these approaches for the se symptom categories. Their effectiveness appears similar to the effe ctiveness of psychotherapy in general. Despite the lack of superior re sults to other psychotherapies, these approaches are likely to compete well in a managed care environment because they tend to be more struc tured, are shorter in duration, and their results seem to hold up well over time.