ensued.	Julia’s	mind	reeled	with	imagined	bad	outcomes.	Over	time,	even	the
thought	of	highway	driving	triggered	panic.	Eventually	she	stopped	driving
on	highways	altogether.
In	the	moment,	avoiding	what	makes	us	anxious	feels	like	the	fix.	In	the
long	run,	the	avoidance	increases	anxiety.	With	treatment,	Julia	made	a
commitment	to	overcome	this	anxiety.	She	began	by	visualizing	herself
driving	and	coping	well.	She	also	practiced	deep	breathing	to	rein	in	the	fight-
or-flight	response	and	supportive	self-talk:	“I	can	and	I	will	push	through	to
the	other	side.”	At	first	the	old	anxiety	reaction	came	flooding	back	in.	She
persevered.	After	two	weeks	of	visualizing,	she	drove	on	a	highway	again.
After	two	months,	she	was	regularly	behind	the	wheel	and	reported	
that
	
her
anxiety	had	dropped	from	10	to	5	on	a	scale	from	1	to	10.
Julia	pushed	through.	Not	only	did	her	symptoms	improve	but	her	quality