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Primary Treatments for Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is most commonly treated with one or a
combination of the following therapies:
Behavior Therapy
for agoraphobia focuses entirely on
changing behavior. In behavior therapy a
person with agoraphobia learns to face feared situations
instead of avoid them. This can be done in small steps (as
in systematic desensitization) or all at once (as in
flooding). Behavior therapy does not address the root
causes of agoraphobic fear, it only offers techniques to
reduce symptoms of anxiety and to keep them from coming back.
more
Cognitive Therapy
for agoraphobia focuses on
identifying and correcting habitual, irrational thought
patterns. These faulty thought
patterns feed feelings of anxiety and fear, as well as cause
physical symptoms.
more
Medication is often prescribed for agoraphobia
by doctors and psychiatrists to be combined with behavior
and cognitive therapy. Since medication can be addictive, it
is usually prescribed for temporary symptom relief while the
person with agoraphobia works towards complete recovery in
therapy.
more
Alternative Treatments
Since
the same treatments do not always work the same for
everyone, other forms of treatment for agoraphobia have been
developed. Other forms of treatment include:
Insight Therapy
Hypnosis
Herbal Preparations
Biofeedback
Meditation
Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
E-therapy
How Well is Your Treatment for Agoraphobia Working?
Once you begin a course of treatment for agoraphobia, you’ll
need some gauge to determine how well it is working. Your
therapy is working as long as you make forward progress, no
matter how slow. Another good sign is if you still feel
encouraged and still have your sights set on the goal of
recovery. It’s also a sign that therapy is working if you
are feeling connected with your therapist in a therapeutic
way and you feel the two of you are working together as a
team to reach your recovery goal.
As long as there is some momentum and forward progress, no
matter how little, the therapy is working.
If your therapy for agoraphobia is effective, you should see
considerable progress in 12-16 weeks. If in this amount of
time, you still feel frustrated and at a standstill, it’s
time to change treatment plans or therapists, or so
recommends the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.
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