The Treatment of Agoraphobia in General Practice

Abstract

The present paper aims to describe the work of a behaviourally oriented psychologist in the treatment of agoraphobia, the most common single problem referred in two years' work in primary care. Apart from its high frequency, agoraphobia has a particular relevance to the general practice settings as it is a problem which relates very specifically to the patient's home environment. A recent study by Mathews et al., (in press) found that a home-based treatment of agoraphobia produced at least as much improvement as clinic based treatments and required less therapist time. One might expect that a psychologist operating from the local health centre might achieve many of the advantages of such a program with a possible decrease in therapist time as travelling is reduced.