Three Paths for the Cognitive Psychotherapy of Anxiety

A Single Entry for All Three Paths

Which path someone takes is decided not in advance and not by taste, but by the psychodiagnostic assessment of the individual's prerequisites. It is the same for all three forms: the anonymous, free suitability test, the likewise free registration with a description of the problem's development and with the definition of goals, and finally the flat-rate, fee-based psychodiagnostic and probationary assessment. After that it is clear what the prospective client suffers from and what is possible with him — and what is not.

Across all three paths, moreover, a single, non-negotiable condition applies to the psychodiagnostic and probationary assessment: every prospective client writes down his misdirected life and learning history of anxiety. This writing down is not a formality but the first psychotherapeutic act of self-therapy; it regularly yields insights before the actual program begins. Whoever is not willing or not able to do this is not suited to a serious cognitive psychotherapy. This is not harshness but a saving of time and money for both sides.

Only on the basis of the results of the psychodiagnostic and probationary assessment is it possible to estimate responsibly how much time in total a prospective client will need to reach his goals, and where his individual total cost will probably fall, between USD 2,340 (CHF 1,819) and USD 4,160 (CHF 3,234).²

The Main Path: Written Cognitive Psychotherapy (WCP)

Written Cognitive Psychotherapy is not the most comfortable but the most consistent form of effective psychotherapy. The written word cannot be blurred with impunity: it forces both sides to clarity, remains permanently available, and can be read as often as needed until it is understood. It demands of the client the greatest mental effort of his own, and thereby gives him in return the highest thing a psychotherapy has to teach: the ability to recognize and correct himself. This form is discreet, independent of location, and leads to the goal in the shortest time. It is our main path and our recommendation, unless a reason speaks for another form.

The Compact Path: Cognitive Psychotherapy in the One-Day Block

Some people think faster in conversation than they write. For them there has existed for decades the cognitive one-day block: eight concentrated hours in direct dialogue with the psychotherapist in Switzerland. It is the same work on the same thinking, only spoken and condensed — writing simply takes longer. In price the one-day block differs hardly at all from the WCP; here one does not buy greater healing, but time.

This form, however, presupposes what it promises: the ability to sustain a full working day with concentration, high motivation, and cognitive resilience. Exactly this the prospective client must already have demonstrated in the psychodiagnostic and probationary assessment. The one-day block can therefore be requested but not ordered: it is carried out only if the psychotherapists consider it sensible. How it proceeds is vividly described in the therapy report of a physician³ who overcame his anxiety disorder, after years on the wrong path, in the cognitive one-day block.

The Vacation Path: Educational Journey for Overcoming Anxiety

The educational journey is for now not yet an offering but a project idea whose demand we wish to gauge. Whoever is interested can express it through the registration; the project will be realized only when enough suitable prospective clients come forward — and, to begin with, within Switzerland, where everything one needs for practice can be found.

The idea is simple. A small group of prospective clients whose anxieties match one another – for instance, toward travel, crowds, public transport, bodily symptoms, or social situations – learns together, under therapeutic guidance, to overcome the anxieties. Understanding the cognitive mechanisms of anxiety is connected directly with applying the corrected thinking in real situations. Therein lies the particular strength: the journey supplies, in an entirely natural way, precisely those situations one needs therapeutically in any case. The larger allotment of time permits more cognitive instruction and more practice; the participants learn from one another and see their progress immediately. The declared goal: to shed the anxieties within five vacation days.

This too is hard work on one's own thinking. That it can also bring joy, because insight and change release very positive feelings, one experiences only afterward – it cannot be promised.

One Method, One Goal

However different the three paths appear, they lead through the same gate of cognitive psychotherapy and to the same goal of freedom from pathological anxiety. In each of them the client does the work himself; in each the relationship ends as soon as he no longer needs it; and in each the goal is the same: to become his own therapist. This is our contribution to more effective psychotherapy. The first step is the same for all three paths — the suitability test.