What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Agoraphobia Like?
Agoraphobia is one of the anxiety disorders that best defines the essence of this set of psychopathologies, since it causes us to lose control of the situation when we anticipate finding ourselves in a situation in which we have no control; In other words, it produces a phenomenon called “self-fulfilling prophecy” through which anxiety calls for more anxiety, and we end up in a vicious circle of anguish and fear from which it is difficult to get out without professional help.
Fortunately, Cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be very effective in cases of agoraphobia, so that today it is possible to leave this alteration behind in a matter of months by attending a psychologist. Let’s see how this type of psychotherapy works.
As I have mentioned, agoraphobia is a psychopathology classified within the category of anxiety disorders according to the diagnostic manuals most used by clinical psychologists. Specifically, it is expressed through a rapid and intense rise in anxiety levels in situations that are perceived as threatening because If you needed help, it would not be easy to escape from them or have someone’s help, when in reality these experiences do not entail a real danger. That is, the person assumes they are at risk even though there are objectively no reasons to assume that they are exposing themselves to danger; A very biased and pessimistic perception of reality appears, based on anticipatory anxiety.
Thus, people with agoraphobia They tend to experience these symptoms when they are in large places and where for one reason or another they would have problems physically leaving the place or have external support, such as squares, avenues, or even parking lots or large exhibition halls. Although the idea that agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces has been widely spread, in reality what worries these people is not the place itself, but the implications of it if they are there and find themselves in a situation of emergency, such as having an anxiety attack so intense that you cannot move or breathe properly, or having a heart attack. As we will see, these types of irrational thoughts are the focus of intervention with cognitive-behavioral therapy for agoraphobia.
As occurs with the rest of phobias, this psychopathology presents latent states, on the one hand, and direct expression of symptoms in moments of crisis, on the other. This means that in situations of greatest discomfort, which are those in which anxiety increases in a matter of seconds, alterations appear such as tremors and muscle tension, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, nausea, dizziness, sensitivity to stimuli and the inability to concentrate, while even when this does not occur, the disorder causes the person to be unable to lead a normal life due to behavioral patterns based on the avoidance of certain places and situations.
How does cognitive behavioral therapy work for patients with agoraphobia?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy aims to intervene both in objective behavior patterns (that is, directly observable by both the patient and the rest of the people around them) and internal psychological processes, especially those elements known as cognitions: ways of thinking, belief systems, etc. Thus, it has a double path of action: it influences both the interaction routines with the environment and with other people, and It also affects the way in which the person relates to their way of thinking and interpreting reality.
Taking this into account, let’s see what the functions of cognitive-behavioral therapy are in cases of agoraphobia.
1. Psychoeducation
Since the way of thinking influences the way of behaving, psychoeducation tasks are carried out in the psychologist’s office, consisting of inform the patient about the characteristics of the problem they have and to help you let go of certain myths about mental health that may have been harming your quality of life.
2. Cognitive restructuring
Through cognitive restructuring, the person is taught to detect the beliefs that they have internalized and that, in addition to being unreasonable, contribute to keeping the disorder functioning. For example, beliefs that generate low self-esteem or that lead to exaggerating the degree of danger of certain harmless situations.
3. Controlled exposure
It is not possible to overcome agoraphobia if the patient does not learn to face the situations that he has learned to fear through dysfunctional psychological dynamics. Therefore, another way in which cognitive-behavioral therapy is applied in the treatment of agoraphobia consists of training the person in coping with what causes them to manifest the symptoms, while following the psychologist’s instructions. and fights the urge to avoid what scares him.
For it controlled exposure strategies are applied to anxiety-inducing stimuli starting with the easiest ones and ending with the most difficult to manage, or you can even choose to use systematic desensitization, in which the person is exposed to relaxing stimuli while facing what causes fear.
4. Relaxation techniques to mitigate anxiety
In the psychologist’s consultation it is also possible to learn useful relaxation techniques that help keep anxiety levels somewhat lower, something useful to improve the person’s quality of life and solve some sleep problems associated with anxiety disorders.
