title: Cognitive therapy for performance anxiety.
abstract: We present and illustrate the major components of cognitive therapy for performance anxiety, focusing on the performance fears of a client treated with a protocol designed for social phobia. The basic supposition of cognitive theory is that a client's thoughts and beliefs about situations maintain distressing feelings, such as anxiety. Changing these beliefs involves detection and disputation of anxiety-provoking thoughts, as well as testing of these thoughts through exposure to feared situations. Through a process of identifying existing beliefs about performance situations and challenging these beliefs, clients can gain a more realistic and less anxiety-producing perspective on performance tasks. Specific techniques, along with common difficulties and potential solutions, are presented in a detailed case study.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Rodebaugh
authors.forename: Dianne L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Chambless
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D003071:Cognition; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000628:therapy*