TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to the use of exposure therapy by psychologists treating anxiety, obsessive‐compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder in an Australian sample
AU - Moses, Karen
AU - Gonsalvez, Craig J.
AU - Meade, Tanya
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Bacground: Exposure therapy is a core component of the evidence-based treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this, many clinicians fail to use exposure therapy in clinical practice, with research highlighting a number of potential barriers. Those findings raise serious concerns regarding the effective dissemination and delivery of evidence-based treatments that in turn have a major impact on client care and cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions. Aims: The present study aims to examine barriers to the use of exposure therapy in the clinical practice of Australian psychologists treating anxiety, OCD and PTSD. Method: One hundred registered psychologists, aged between 23 and 71 years and 84% female, participated in this study via online survey. Results: Results suggest that the most common barriers to the use of exposure therapy include lack of confidence, negative beliefs about exposure therapy, insufficient underpinning theoretical knowledge, client-specific barriers, and logistical limitations. Conclusions: Future research may further examine those barriers and the components of additional training and supervision that can increase the uptake of exposure therapy, particularly in clinical areas where it is a gold standard of practice.
AB - Bacground: Exposure therapy is a core component of the evidence-based treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this, many clinicians fail to use exposure therapy in clinical practice, with research highlighting a number of potential barriers. Those findings raise serious concerns regarding the effective dissemination and delivery of evidence-based treatments that in turn have a major impact on client care and cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions. Aims: The present study aims to examine barriers to the use of exposure therapy in the clinical practice of Australian psychologists treating anxiety, OCD and PTSD. Method: One hundred registered psychologists, aged between 23 and 71 years and 84% female, participated in this study via online survey. Results: Results suggest that the most common barriers to the use of exposure therapy include lack of confidence, negative beliefs about exposure therapy, insufficient underpinning theoretical knowledge, client-specific barriers, and logistical limitations. Conclusions: Future research may further examine those barriers and the components of additional training and supervision that can increase the uptake of exposure therapy, particularly in clinical areas where it is a gold standard of practice.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:68412
U2 - 10.1002/jclp.23470
DO - 10.1002/jclp.23470
M3 - Article
SN - 1097-4679
SN - 0021-9762
VL - 79
SP - 1156
EP - 1165
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychology
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychology
IS - 4
ER -