The challenges of clinical practice are many and daunting. The clinician who also strives to be a scientist-practitioner faces the further difficulties of keeping abreast of the research literature and translating empirical findings into clinically useful assessment and treatment techniques. Butler, Fennell and Hackmann have done such clinicians an enormous service with this book. The authors are internationally renowned experts on the science and practice of CBT and have published some of the most important books on contemporary CBT practice available.

The authors identify the aspects of treatment that are common across anxiety disorders, of which there are many; indeed, the transdiagnostic approach to anxiety disorders is predicated on the observation that there are more commonalities in the development and persistence of the various anxiety problems than there are differences. In the first chapter, the clinician is armed with an understanding of the important differences between the disorders and the implications of those differences for the phases of treatment. Each of the sections that follow covers a specific treatment phase, including deepening understanding and securing engagement, facilitating emotional processing, overcoming major obstacles to progress, and ending treatment productively.

Each chapter constructs a golden bridge between science and practice. The authors identify the important components of treatment at each phase, while explicating the theoretical and empirical framework within which each component of treatment is grounded. Their knowledge of the literature on the development and persistence of anxiety disorders is current and impeccable. Large bodies of findings are distilled into accurate summations that readily inform practice. The authors draw upon their collective expertise in treatment to describe a myriad of strategies the clinician can use to meet the goals of each treatment component. Well-written, concise, and centred on rich case examples, these descriptions effectively communicate how to implement CBT techniques in a truly compassionate and collaborative manner. The authors include traditional techniques, such as thought records, exposure, and behavioural experiments. The latter draws from the authors' superb book on the topic published several years ago and puts behavioural experiments on a par with exposure as a powerful clinical tool in treating anxiety.

At the same time, the authors draw from other treatment literatures and describe the application of techniques more often used to treat other difficulties. For example, the “emotional bridge to the past” is recommended as a means of obtaining a detailed phenomenology of the anxiety problem. Techniques derived from cutting edge research on imagery and memory are also described. These are all valuable additions to the clinician's repertoire.

The chapters are punctuated with notes about problems to anticipate and how to troubleshoot them. These are especially helpful, providing the reader with a conceptual framework for understanding difficulties and problem-focused approaches to manage them. This book empowers the clinician with the knowledge required to develop a solid case formulation and exercise good clinical judgment in the implementation of the rich variety of therapeutic techniques described. This book is an invaluable resource for the clinician, the CBT trainee and the CBT instructor.