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Panic

22 techniques · 9 approaches
ACT
5 Senses / Grounding 5-4-3-2-1
5 Senses / Grounding 5-4-3-2-1
A quick grounding technique. The client names five things they see, four sounds they hear, three bodily sensations, two smells and one taste…
ACT
Dropping Anchor
Dropping Anchor
A brief grounding protocol developed in ACT for moments of emotional storm. The client acknowledges inner experience, reconnects with the bo…
ACT
Expansion / Opening Up
Expansion / Opening Up
A core ACT acceptance technique. The client learns to create space around an unpleasant bodily sensation: noticing it, allowing it to be the…
ACT
Exposure + Values
Exposure + Values
The ACT version of exposure: not simply entering the feared situation, but entering while holding the value at the center. Values become the…
CBT
Behavioral Experiment
Behavioral Experiment
A planned real-world test of a belief. The client states a prediction, designs a safe experiment, performs it, and compares prediction with …
CBT
Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive Restructuring
A core CBT technique and the center of cognitive work. The therapist helps the client catch an automatic negative thought, examine its logic…
CBT
Decatastrophizing
Decatastrophizing
Work with catastrophizing by following the feared scenario through to the end. The therapist does not deny that something bad could happen; …
CBT
Graded Exposure
Graded Exposure
A step-by-step behavioral technique for reducing fear and avoidance. The client builds a hierarchy of feared situations, starts with managea…
CBT
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation
Structured explanation that gives the client a usable model of their symptoms and therapy. In CBT it commonly covers the cognitive model, th…
CBT
Relaxation Training
Relaxation Training
Systematic training in reducing physiological tension. Main methods include progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing and autog…
CBT
Thought Distancing / Defusion
Thought Distancing / Defusion
Creating distance between the person and their thoughts. A thought is not a fact; it is an event in the mind. The client moves from "I am a …
DBT
Check the Facts
Check the Facts
A technique for distinguishing whether the intensity and the kind of an emotion fit the actual situation. If they do not — Opposite Action i…
DBT
Observe
Observe
Building the capacity to notice phenomena — thoughts, emotions, sensations, events — without trying to change them, stop them, or grab onto …
DBT
TIPP Skill (Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, Progressive relaxation)
TIPP Skill (Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, Progressive relaxation)
A four-component protocol for the rapid lowering of arousal and physiological stress. It works through direct activation of the parasympathe…
EMDR
Four Elements Exercise
Four Elements Exercise
A four-step stress management exercise developed by Elan Shapiro. Each element addresses a separate self-regulation parameter: Earth — groun…
EMDR
Safe/Calm Place
Safe/Calm Place
The client builds a mental image of a place of complete safety — real, imagined, or a mix. The image is filled in with sensory detail: color…
MBSR
Lake Meditation
Lake Meditation
A guided meditation: the participant pictures themselves as a lake — the water on the surface may be turbulent, but in the depths it is alwa…
MCT
Threat Monitoring Reduction
Threat Monitoring Reduction
A specific technique for reducing the constant scanning for threats by changing meta-beliefs about the necessity of monitoring. Differs from…
MCT
Threat Reappraisal
Threat Reappraisal
A technique for changing threat-oriented attention and threat monitoring. MCT does not convince the client that there are no threats — it ch…
REBT
Anti-Awfulizing / De-Catastrophizing
Anti-Awfulizing / De-Catastrophizing
A specialized form of disputing aimed at the belief "this is awful" (awfulizing). Ellis argued that "awful" logically means "worse than 100%…
UP
Interoceptive Exposure
Interoceptive Exposure
Deliberately evoking bodily sensations that the client interprets as dangerous, in order to reduce fear of the body's normal sensations.
Yalom
Paradoxical Intention
Paradoxical Intention
The client deliberately intensifies the feared symptom instead of avoiding it: in panic — "I'll try to feel the maximum fear"; in insomnia —…
Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.