Staying tuned to research in implicit cognition: Relevance for clinical practice with anxiety disorders Original Research Article

There is a rich theoretical literature on the automatic nature of fear and anxiety and the role of maladaptive fear schemata. Information processing biases, both implicit and explicit, have been demonstrated among clinically anxious persons, but the clinical applications of this work have not been well developed. This article highlights empirical support for implicit cognition in anxiety (evaluating evidence for biases in attention, interpretation, memory, and automatic associations) and then focuses on the relevance of this research for clinical practice. Potential mechanisms for change in implicit cognition are outlined. Although clinical applications for implicit cognition are not yet well articulated, there is good reason to stay tuned to this research because recent advances in the study of automatic fear processing have potential to lead to better assessment and intervention techniques and better prediction of vulnerability to the onset and return of anxiety.