The psychotherapeutic implications of functional neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVE

To explore and discuss the psychotherapeutic implications of functional neuroimaging findings in anxiety disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

Therapeutic implications of the neural system dysfunctions found in functional neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders include: emotional dysregulation can probably be found in all anxiety disorders except obsessive compulsive disorder and needs to be addressed; the probable salience of enhancing implicit emotion regulation in improving overall treatment outcome; the importance of addressing insecure attachment in establishing and maintaining the therapeutic relationship; the need to enhance the reward-approach system especially in chronic treatment-resistant patients; the need to address traumatic memory in anxiety disorders other than PTSD among those with a traumatic history. There is likely to be a need for therapeutic techniques and strategies of different psychotherapy schools to be utilized to adequately address the various neural dysfunctions in patients with anxiety disorders.