Guided Mastery

Description of the Strategy

Guided mastery is a therapeutic method of assisting clients in raising their self-efficacy (i.e., perception that a task can be accomplished) so they are motivated to attempt, and subsequently accomplish, progressively more difficult tasks that are involved in the implementation of behavioral therapies. As proficiency and flexibility of performance are accomplished, therapeutic assistance is gradually withdrawn. For instance, exposure to progressively greater anxiety-provoking situations is the treatment of choice for individuals who evidence problems associated with anxiety disorders (e.g., panic disorder with agoraphobia). In the utilization of guided mastery, a therapist might encourage and assist the individual in accomplishing a situation that is associated with a low degree of anxiety (e.g., walking in the shopping center with a friend) ...