Exposure therapy and cognitive interventions for the anxiety disorders: Overview and newer third-generation perspectives

Fear and its conditioned basis are not disordered processes per se but become so when they alter their form, frequency, or occurrence in humans. The regulation of anxiety and fear using any number of strategies may result in temporary relief-for example, anxiety reduction via negative reinforcement. Yet the cumulative effect over time of such actions is life constriction and long-term suffering. Such actions, when rigidly and inflexibly applied, can take over a person's life and turn the experience of fear and fear learning into a problematic painful emotional experience. Exposure-based interventions may need to attend to the emotional regulation agenda, while reframing exposure in terms of valued life goals such as family, relationships, spirituality, and health that are not control or attenuation of anxiety and fear. Exposure and cognitive change procedures may be used as set of emotion regulation strategies that may set clients up for fear renewal and relapse.