What is the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Course?
The Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) course consists of eight two hour group sessions and two brief individual reviews. The course provides information and teaches skills to help understand how GAD is maintained and how this can be changed.
The course broadly follows the Dugas approach to GAD with some useful additions. The model is presented using the Vicious Cog formulation.
Topics covered during the course include; Psychoeducation & GAD formulations (vicious cogs), beliefs about worry, categorising worry and problem solving, worry time and attention refocusing, intolerance of uncertainty, overestimating threat and underestimating coping, and relapse Prevention.
Each course usually takes a maximum of 20 participants.
Each session includes a mixture of information giving, group discussion, group exercises and skills practice. The course is designed to be educational and skills focussed, and is not ‘group therapy’ or a forum for addressing individual personal problems (although these will of course be the focus of skills practice).
Participants will be expected to complete homework between every session in order to integrate skills taught into their own lives. Homework will be reviewed as part of every session.
The overall aim of the course is to enable participants to develop a clear understanding of their problems in cognitive behavioural terms, and learn positive strategies to overcome them.
Course Overview
Session 1: Introduction to CBT and anxiety Introduction to the group and what to expect
- What is anxiety?
- Socialising to CBT using 5 Areas model
- Calm breathing
Session 2: GAD and why we worry
- Understanding GAD and worry
- Worry diary
- The importance of sleep and lifestyle for mental health
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Session 3: Beliefs about worry
- What are common beliefs about worry?
- How do our beliefs related to worry affect how much we worry?
- Addressing beliefs about worry by evaluating the costs and benefits.
Session 4: Categorising worry and problem solving
- Categorising Hypothetical vs Practical worries
- Problem Solving Practical worries
Session 5: Review. No group session. Individual reviews
Session 6: Worry time and attention refocusing
- Hypothetical worries
- Cognitive Avoidance – importance of not supressing worries
- Worry time
- Refocusing attention and mindfulness
Session 7: Intolerance of uncertainty
- Intolerance of uncertainty definition
- Opinions and safety behaviours related to intolerance of uncertainty
- Challenging intolerance of uncertainty
- Behavioural experiments
Session 8: Overestimating threat and underestimating coping
- Catastrophising thinking style
- Anxiety equation
- Decatastrophising our thoughts
- Developing more belief in our ability to cope
Session 9: Relapse Prevention
- Recapping on skills learnt
- Staying well plan
Session 10: End Course Review. No group session. Individual reviews.