After the acute phase treatment , as long as the drug was continued , the superiority of the combination over either monotherapy appeared to persist .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder can be treated with pharmacotherapy , psychotherapy or in combination , but the relative merits of combined therapy have not been well established .
OBJECTIVES To review evidence concerning short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of combined psychotherapy plus antidepressant treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia , in comparison with either therapy alone .
Treatment of phobias. II. Behavior therapy and supportive psychotherapy: are there any specific ingredients?
Systematic hierarchical desensitization ( behavior therapy [ BT ] ) was compared with supportive psychotherapy ( ST ) during a 26-week treatment trial of patients with agoraphobia , mixed phobia , or simple phobia . We found essentially no difference in effectiveness , not because patients treated with BT had done badly , but because patients receiving ST had done well . A detailed method ologic review concludes that this finding is entirely compatible with the major critical review s of the psychotherapy literature . Is the active ingredient in psychotherapy simply the generation of hopeful expectancies ? This is necessary but not sufficient . For phobics , the psychotherapy session serves primarily as an instigator . The specific corrective activity occurs outside of the formal session in the form of maintained exposure in vivo . Supposed differences between therapies may be entirely due to the rapidly with which the instigational function becomes effective
After the acute phase treatment , as long as the drug was continued , the superiority of the combination over either monotherapy appeared to persist .
BACKGROUND Panic disorder can be treated with pharmacotherapy , psychotherapy or in combination , but the relative merits of combined therapy have not been well established .
OBJECTIVES To review evidence concerning short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of combined psychotherapy plus antidepressant treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia , in comparison with either therapy alone .