actually happened? How would you cope or continue to function?2 My Second Fear isWhat is the fear or anxiety about?What is the possibility on a scale of 1 (very unlikely) to 10 (inevitable) that the feared outcome will actually happen? Circle one number.12345678910What self‐talk messages do you give yourself that make the fear grow?What are the very real consequences if the feared outcome did occur?What can you do to control the outcome of the situation that you fear?What is the worst possible real outcome if your fear was realized?How would your life be affected if your feared outcome actually happened? How would you cope or continue to function?
Therapist's Overview PAST SUCCESSFUL ANXIETY COPING
GOALS OF THE EXERCISE
1 Identify successful coping strategies used in the past.
2 View yourself as a capable, resourceful person who has been successful at overcoming fear.
3 Apply successful coping strategies from the past to current anxieties.
4 Enhance ability to effectively cope with the full variety of life's anxieties.
ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS FOR WHICH THIS EXERCISE MAY BE MOST USEFUL
Impulse Control Disorder
Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Panic/Agoraphobia
Phase of Life Problems
Phobia
Social Anxiety
Suicidal Ideation
SUGGESTIONS FOR PROCESSING THIS EXERCISE WITH THE CLIENT
This solution‐focused assignment attempts to get the client to recognize their resourcefulness in the past in dealing with anxiety. Helping the client clarify and refine the coping skill that they used is the most difficult part of the assignment. Clients are often not aware of what coping mechanism they relied on to deal with their fear. After the successful coping skills have been identified and refined, help the client to apply these successful skills from the past to current anxieties. Monitor and modify the solution as required.
EXERCISE 3.B PAST SUCCESSFUL ANXIETY COPING
This assignment leads us to focus on resources and successes that we have demonstrated throughout our past. We tend to forget about our ability to cope when our anxieties and fears seem so real and debilitating. However, all of us have had fears that we have overcome or that we have functioned with in spite of their presence from childhood right into adulthood. We may have feared attending kindergarten, but learned ways to cope with that fear as a child and eventually the fear was eradicated. We may have feared talking to teenagers of the opposite sex but eventually learned to speak to them in spite of our anxiety. We may have feared going on a job interview but pressed forward and presented ourselves in the best manner possible. In other words, we learn to cope and to function and to overcome anxiety. We cannot allow our anxieties to cripple us or cause us to avoid circumstances. We must face our anxieties head on. We may have coped by just “taking a deep breath” or by getting encouragement from our friends or by rehearsing what we were going to do or say so often that it became almost automatic. Whatever coping skill we used, we have been successful in the past and now we must rediscover those coping skills and apply them to the current anxieties.
1 Identify three fears or anxieties that you experienced in the past.Fear #1:Fear #2:Fear #3:
2 Identify what you did to cope with, or continue to function in spite of, the anxiety.Fear #1:Fear #2:Fear #3:
3 How do you know your coping mechanism identified in question 2 was successful?Fear #1:Fear #2:Fear #3:
4 What other coping skills have you relied on in the past to help you overcome fears?
5 How can you use each of the coping skills identified in question 2 to help you with your current fears?
Therapist's Overview WORRY TIME
GOALS OF THE EXERCISE
1 Reduce overall frequency, intensity, and duration of the anxiety so that daily functioning is not impaired.
2 Learn and implement a strategy to limit the association between various environmental settings and worry, delaying the worry until designated “worry time.”
3 Stabilize anxiety level while increasing ability to function on a daily basis.
4 Enhance ability to effectively cope with the full variety of life's anxieties.
ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS FOR WHICH THIS EXERCISE MAY BE MOST USEFUL
Depression—Unipolar
Low Self‐Esteem
Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder
Panic/Agoraphobia
Phobia
SUGGESTIONS FOR PROCESSING THIS EXERCISE WITH THE CLIENT
Clients with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder often spend an excessive amount of time worrying. Furthermore, they have trouble “letting go” of their worries. The goal of this exercise is to decrease the amount of time spent in worrying by restricting worry to a specific time and place. Instruct the client to designate a specific time and place to worry. Teach the client how to recognize, stop, and delay worry to the agreed‐upon “worry time” by using techniques such as deep breathing, deep muscle relaxation, thought‐stopping, and refocusing. The client should be trained in the use of these various techniques before implementing the “worry time” intervention. The client is asked to complete a daily “Worry Time” Log to identify how successful the client was in restricting the amount of time spent in worrying each day.
EXERCISE 3.C WORRY TIME
CLIENT'S INSTRUCTIONS
People with generalized anxiety spend a great deal of time worrying about various problems. They have trouble with “letting go” of their worries. Excessive worrying can be draining, both physically and emotionally. It can take away one's energy and interfere with the ability to relax and enjoy life. It is not uncommon for people who experience anxiety to have problems with both falling and staying asleep. High levels of anxiety and excessive worrying can make it difficult to concentrate on one's schoolwork and other tasks in life. Furthermore, people who worry to excess often do not enjoy their time spent with family and friends because they are so focused on their problems.
The purpose of this exercise is to reduce the amount of time you spend each day worrying. The first step in this exercise is to identify the specific stressor or issue that you are worried about in your current life. Next, you will select a specific time and place where you can focus or concentrate on your worries. You are asked to set aside
