THE ROLE OF SYMPTOM INDUCTION IN THE TREATMENT OF PANIC AND ANXIETY -IDENTIFIABLE DOMAINS, CONDITIONAL PROPERTIES, AND TREATMENT TARGETS

Although the importance of affectively charged material in the treatme nt of panic and anxiety has been emphasized and implicitly viewed as e ssential for effective therapeutic change, a general framework for org anizing, understanding, implementing, and evaluating symptom induction techniques has yet to be offered. This article offers a framework for organizing symptom induction techniques, categorizing treatment targe ts, and, accordingly, assessing therapeutic change in the treatment of panic and anxiety. Symptom induction techniques are examined in three exposure domains: physiological, cognitive, and situational/circumsta ntial; treatment targets fall into five categories: (a) poor symptom t olerance and resultant hypersensitivity and hypervigilance, (b) avoida nce of internal and external triggers, (c) the emergence of specific c atastrophic thoughts and related misinterpretations, (d) diminished ad aptive coping skills, and (e) a reduction in general self-efficacy Add itionally, a distinction is proposed between conditional and unconditi onal properties of symptom induction, with an emphasis on the potentia l deleterious role conditional properties play during the course of tr eatment.