2-Day Taming the Amygdala in Anxiety Treatment: Brain-Based Strategies for Panic, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety, GAD, OCD, & PTSD

Credits

Speaker

Catherine M. Pittman, Ph.D., HSPP Related seminars and products

Saint Mary's College

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Catherine M. Pittman, Ph.D., HSPP, has a background in cognitive behavioral therapy, neuropsychology, fear-conditioning research, and treated anxiety-based disorders in clinical practice for over 25 years. Her experience makes her uniquely qualified to provide a clear understanding of neuroscience and how that informs the selection and application of successful anxiety treatment strategies.

Dr. Pittman is the author of the popular book, Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety Panic, and Worry (New Harbinger Publications). Her new book, Taming Your Amygdala, will be published in Spring 2022 (PESI Publishing & Media). Dr. Pittman is a professor of Psychology at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN. She regularly presents workshops at national conferences and national webinars on anxiety treatment and is an active member of the Public Education Committee of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Dr. Catherine Pittman maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Saint Mary's College. She is an author with New Harbinger, Foliadeux Press, and PESI Publishing and receives royalties. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Dr. Catherine Pittman is a member of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

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Objectives

1. Evaluate the role of the amygdala in defending clients from danger and creating anxiety-producing memories for purposes of client psychoeducation.
2. Utilize the language of the amygdala and how it learns to improve client level of functioning.
3. Support client motivation and engagement via use of the language of the amygdala.
4. Demonstrate why both the amygdala and cortex pathways in the brain must be treated for maximum relief of anxiety symptoms.
5. Assess and identify where client’s anxiety begins and help them interpret their fight, flight, freeze response.
6. Construct interventions to help train client’s amygdala to respond differently to anxiety and fear.
7. Demonstrate the connection of client’s amygdala to anxiety symptoms for treatment planning purposes.
8. Evaluate the relationship of the cortex to the amygdala as it relates to treatment outcomes.
9. Utilize exposure techniques to increase client’s tolerance to anxiety and retrain the amygdala.
10. Determine how clients label their anxiety-related experiences.
11. Employ neurologically informed strategies such as relaxation, exercise, exposure, and sleep interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms.
12. Utilize neurologically informed strategies such as cognitive restructuring techniques to reduce cognitions that produce anxious responding.

Outline

THE AMYGDALA AS A VEHICLE TO REDUCE ANXIETY

Teach Clients How & Why They Experience Anxiety
Amygdala’s Role in Defending Us from Danger & Creating Anxiety-Producing Memories

• Make neuroscience accessible
• How the amygdala learns
• The language of the amygdala
• Lifestyle changes that calm the brain
• Importance of questioning the necessity of fear & anxiety response

Promote Client Motivation & Engagement
Essential Knowledge About Using the Amygdala in Therapy

• Anxiety symptoms as a window into amygdala functioning
• The pitfalls of avoiding anxiety: Case example
• Introduce clients to their amygdala: Worksheets, explanations, examples
• Connect amygdala to client concerns

Teach Client’s Where Their Anxiety Comes From
Two Brain Pathways that Produce Anxiety

• Triggering of emotion: Amygdala
• Generation of emotion: Cortex
• Help clients recognize their two pathways: Useful examples
• How anxiety is initiated in each pathway & how they influence each other
• Why both pathways need to be understood & treated for maximum relief

THE AMYGDALA IN TREATMENT OF ANXIETY: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Personalize and Select Which Client Goals to Focus On
Connect Client’s Amygdala to Goal Setting: Examples

• Find the client’s amygdala in their experiences
• How clients label their anxiety-related experiences
• Guidelines to draw out and identify goals
• How/where anxiety/worry interferes with client goals
• The value in client’s complaining about their life

Exposure Techniques to Increase Tolerance to Anxiety
How to Retrain the Amygdala

• Teach clients to communicate with their amygdala
• Importance of SUDS ratings for communicating with clients
• Seven general guidelines for exposure
• Six tips for exposure effectiveness

Amygdala-Focused Interventions
How to Stop Scaring the Amygdala

• The type of relaxation that calms the amygdala
• The type of sleep that calms the amygdala
• How yoga calms the amygdala
• The type of exercise that calms the amygdala: Case example
• Exposure interventions that teach the amygdala: Case example

Cortex-Focused Interventions
How to Stop the Cortex from Activating the Amygdala

• Cognitive approaches to target the cortex
• Remember “survival of the busiest” rule
• You can’t erase, you must replace
• The amygdala watches cortex television
• Change the channel in the cortex

Limitation of Research and Potential Risks

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Physicians
• Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Occupational Therapists
• Other Mental Health Professionals