The first chapter provides an overview of anxiety disorders, which includes concepts, definitions, and manifestations. The various perspectives on these disorders from different schools of thought are discussed in chapter two to help the reader to get an overall view of possible causes. Therefore, it emphasizes the dictum that accurate diagnosis is necessary for effective treatment.
Chapter three highlights the important tools and techniques used in making assessments, while chapter four looks at some psychological treatment techniques. Finally, chapter five presents some of the difficulties faced by therapists and tries to offer solutions. The appendix is a handy tool, which gives a compact view of the procedures of the more commonly used techniques in a clinical setting.
The authors stress, through their analysis, that we should recognize the uniqueness of each patient in terms of needs, personality, family networks, interactional processes, social support, etc. Therefore, they emphasize the importance of a holistic approach towards therapy, one that combines therapies even though one might subscribe to a particular school of thought. Actual cases are presented to establish this.
