Development of a Scientist-Practitioner Program of Excellence in Exposure-Based I

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Anxiety disorders are one of the most common forms of psychopathology. Fortunately, despite their daunting prevalence rates, a large treatment-outcome literature indicates that anxiety disorders are extremely amenable to empirically-based psychological treatments. However, the availability of effective and efficacious treatments for psychological disorders depends upon access to effective training in evidence-based treatments (Nathan & Gorman, 2002). The goal of the present proposal is to develop a scientifically-informed clinical training program in exposure based therapy for anxiety disorders that would integrate research and practice at all stages of training, and would serve as a model for how exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders can be disseminated both within clinical psychology graduate programs and in the larger clinical psychology community. This will be accomplished by developing and refining a curriculum that provides clinical psychology graduate students with a broad training that focuses on the conceptual and empirical bases of exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders and that provides them with skills necessary for effective dissemination of evidence-based approaches.