CHAPTER 11
Maintaining Your 
Improvements and  
Planning for the Future
The purpose of this ﬁnal chapter is to discuss strategies for ensuring that the gains you 
have made so far are maintained over the coming months and years. Perhaps the most 
important suggestion we can offer is that you should continue to use the strategies 
described in the ﬁrst ten chapters. Continuing to use approaches that were helpful in 
getting you to where you are now will ensure that you maintain your gains and that your 
anxiety continues to decrease over time.
THE END OF TREATMENT
In some ways, treatment is never ﬁnished. Although most people experience improvements 
using the strategies described in this book, it’s common for people to continue to suffer 
from anxiety in some social situations from time to time. Like back pain, depression, and 
high blood pressure, anxiety is often a chronic problem that comes and goes, but it can 
also be controlled. It will be helpful for you to continue to use the methods described in 
this book to make sure that your anxiety doesn’t worsen. In fact, an important goal of 
cognitive behavioral therapy is to teach people to be their own therapists. If this book 
has been effective, chances are that your anxiety is much better than it was and you have 
learned some strategies that you can continue to use as you move forward.