`A must for anyone who has either experienced anxiety themselves (and who hasn't?) or who has tried to understand, and perhaps help, an anxious friend or caller... thoroughly readable and comprehensible... The author devotes a long chapter to panic attacks, as an extreme response to stress, and one which can hugely affect normal life. I found this fascinating and it did much to increase my understanding of this extreme reaction to some situations... well worth a read, to help us understand better those callers who are anxious - and maybe ourselves' - The Samaritan

This practical guide provides counsellors with a model for understanding anxiety problems within the total context of the client's life. Adopting an eclectic cognitive and behavioural approach, Hallam avoids the usual tendency to offer prescribed solutions to isolated `disorders' and instead gives systematic and flexible guidelines for formulation, assessment and intervention.

The book shows how to prepare and educate clients, how to negotiate objectives and priorities, and how to design a programme of help through to the termination of the counselling process. The emphasis throughout is on the need to respond flexibly, but with an explicit strategy and specific techniques to reduce anxiety effectively. The book makes use of detailed case examples and draws on theoretical and technical advances in research.