CBT for Panic Attacks:
Panic Attack Treatment Without Medication

Current psychological research has found that cognitive behavioral therapy is by far the most effect treatment for anxiety in general, and panic disorder in particular. In addition to its effectiveness, CBT for panic is also significantly shorter in duration than traditional talk therapy, with CBT for panic disorder usually lasting only 12-16 sessions. Furthermore, the gains made in CBT are longer lasting than those achieved by anxiety medication, which, when discontinued, often results in a relapse of symptoms.

Cognitive behavioral treatment for panic attacks and panic disorder usually involves some combination of the following interventions:

• Relaxation Training: Relaxation training can be helpful in the beginning stages of treatment for panic. Often, people have become increasingly anxious over time, so much so that their bodies are overwrought with muscle tension, making them even more susceptible to additional anxiety. Usually, relaxation training involves relaxation breathing or progressive muscle relaxation, ways of decreasing physiological anxious arousal. This then helps to reduce future vulnerability to anxiety.

• Cognitive Restructuring: Cognitive Restructuring is a method of becoming more aware of anxiety-provoking thought patterns, and replacing them with more balanced, less anxious thinking. By reducing the intensity of your reactions to panic symptoms and feared situations, you can further reduce your anxiety and decrease the frequency, intensity, and duration of panic symptoms.

• Mindfulness: A meditative technique borrowed from Eastern traditions of meditation, mindfulness as a tool for overcoming anxiety is increasingly becoming the focus of a great deal of scientific research. In treatment for panic disorder, it is used to help teach people to experience unpleasant physical sensations without reacting negatively to them, thus short-circuiting the vicious cycle of fear and panic.

• Exposure treatment: Once people feel less anxious about future panic attacks due to using relaxation training, mindfulness, and cognitive restructuring, they are more able to confront anxiety-provoking situations. Systematic exposure is an intervention that helps people face what they normally avoid. By purposely putting themselves in challenging situations, they defuse the fear associated with them, and no longer fear the situations in the future.

• Stress Reduction: For some people, reducing stressors can be an important part of treatment for anxiety. A combination of 1) learning to react to different situations more calmly and 2) reducing unnecessary stress can be helpful in reducing overall anxiety and improving quality of life.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles is a therapy practice of expert psychologists with the highest level of training and experience in providing evidence-based treatment for anxiety. Click the button below to ask a question or schedule a consultation to determine whether CBT is right for you.  

Barlow, D.H., Gorman, J.M., Shear, M.K., & Woods, S.W. (2000). Cognitive-behavioral therapy, imipramine, or their combination for panic disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 19, 2529-2536.