V. Can I use this treatment with other treatments to help with my anxiety?

Course speech

Behavioural therapy exercises should be part of your total efforts to lower anxiety. As you have seen in this lesson, there are many exercises to use to change the way we react to anxiety-causing events. Behavioural exercises have been widely supported by research for their

  • ability to alter panic and avoidance responses to stressors and trauma
  • ability to reduce panic in known stressors
  • gives you action tools to prevent panic and anxiety in new situations

When using cognitive exercises as part of your treatment plan for anxiety, please keep the following in mind:

  • Behavioural Therapies are widely combined with Cognitive Therapies to address the thoughts, self-talk and patterns that lead to passive avoidance or safety behaviours, and to further reduce anxious thoughts before they become anxious responses.
  • Medication treatment may be needed to help some people with anxiety to maximize the benefits of behavioural therapy.
  • Because some worry or avoidant behaviours result in inactivity or isolation, behavioural therapies should be combined with Physical Exercise. Physical exercise in itself is healthy for your mind and body, and has been shown to help lower anxiety when you choose the activities that best suit you. 
  • Systematic Desensitization teaches you to make your own relaxation response to cope with and adapt new behavioural responses to stressors. Other lessons in this website can show you a number of relaxation techniques that may improve methodical desensitization processes. Please see our lesson on Relaxation Exercises for more information.

After trying other therapies or combining them with these behavioural exercises, you may find that the exercises presented in this lesson are all you need for your level of anxiety. You can always use behavioural exercises by themselves without other therapies.