New Directions in Progressive Relaxation Training: A Guidebook for Helping Professionals

Psychotherapy continues to progress at a remarkable rate as researchers become more creative in the development and application of a wide variety of empirically tested techniques. Older techniques have been refined and newer ones have emerged. Both old and new techniques are being quantified, assessed, and compared in group design research, and, for the first time since modern therapy's beginnings in the writings of Sigmund Freud, remarkable strides have been made in asking and answering vital questions about the effectiveness of various treatment strategies.

One such strategy, Progressive Relaxation Training, grew out of a set of methods originating in the 1930s in the writings of Edmund Jacobson. The primary purpose of this guide is to set forth in detail the therapist behaviors and skills necessary for the effective application of progressive relaxation training. The guide was designed to provide therapists in many disciplines―including psychology, psychiatry, social work, pastoral counseling, nursing, and rehabilitation services, for example―with the tools they need to train their clients in relaxation. The guide was also designed to be used in research on stress and stress management, psychotherapy outcome, and related topics. This purpose is particularly important because there are few manuals available which describe in detail the actual procedures used in relaxation training.

DOUGLAS A. BERNSTEIN is Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Courtesy Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida. He has written, with Thomas D. Borkovec, Progressive Relaxation Training and, with M.T. Nietzel and R. Milich, Introduction to Clinical Psychology. He is also lead author on the fifth edition of an introductory textbook, Psychology. He is a fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society.

THOMAS D. BORKOVEC is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University. His empirical work has involved both basic and applied research, and his therapy outcome investigations on the cognitive behavioral treatment of generalized anxiety disorder have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health since 1984. He has published more than 120 journal articles and book chapters.

HOLLY HAZLETT-STEVENS is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work focuses on anxiety and relaxation research.