Contents of It's not All in Your Head by Asmundson and Taylor

(Barsky & Ahern, 2004), and reduced health service consultations (Seivewright et al,
2008). These results were often maintained at follow-up (e.g., Barsky & Ahern, 2004, at
6- and 12-month follow-up; Bleichhardt et al., 2005 at 12-month follow-up; Sorensen et
al., 2010, at 6- and 12-month follow-up).
Several recent health anxiety studies delivered CBT in a group format. Buwalda
and colleagues (2008) provided a 6-week psychoeducational course (six, 2-hour sessions)
about hypochondriacal metacognition (treatment n = 20; wait-list n =15): The effect sizes
were large (hypochondriacal complaints d = 0.90; depression d = 0.90). Wattar and
colleagues (2005) examined the effectiveness of group (10 - 15 sessions) and individual
CBT (6 - 8 sessions) in a clinical setting (n = 16): The treatment was beneficial (effect
size unavailable). Martínez and Botella (2005) provided 10 sessions of group CBT (n =
12): The treatment effects were large (health anxiety d = 1.00; depression d = 1.95).
Bouman (2002) administered six, 2-hour sessions of group cognitive-educational therapy
(n = 21): The effect sizes were large (health anxiety d = 1.05; depression d = 0.89).
These group treatment studies showed substantial and clinically significant
improvements in symptoms of health anxiety (Bouman, 2002; Buwalda et al., 2008;
Martínez & Botella, 2005; Wattar et al., 2005), depression (Buwalda et al., 2008; Wattar
et al., 2005), and general anxiety (Buwalda et al., 2008; Wattar et al., 2005). Sometimes
there was not a complete reduction in symptoms compared to healthy control groups
(e.g., Martínez & Botella, 2005). The improvement in symptoms were often maintained
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