Anxiety

Shari A. Steinman, Ph.D., of New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, will test a new way of reducing return of fear following cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This will be the first test of a novelty-facilitated extinction paradigm vs. a standard extinction paradigm. 80 patients with pathological anxiety will take part, half receiving standard therapy and half the new therapy. If novelty-facilitated extinction similarly affects those with pathological anxiety as it does healthy people, this study will be the foundation for research evaluating effects of adding novelty to exposure therapy (e.g., pairing a tarantula with a surprising, novel stimulus during exposure treatment for spider phobia, as opposed to pairing a tarantula with the absence of a negative outcome).