Expanding Our Conceptualization of and Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder : Integrating Mindfulness / Acceptance - Based Approaches With Existing Cognitive - Behavioral Models

treatments of GAD. In addition to these important developments in theory and intervention, we believe that an explicit integration of mindfulness and acceptance perspectives into existing models, empirical study, and treatments of GAD may improve the efficacy and breadth of impact of extant interventions. Our goal in this article is to present a conceptual integration of current theory and research of GAD and acceptance-based perspectives (from outside the GAD area). Rather than comprehensively reviewing the literature on GAD (for such a review, see Brown, 1999; Craske, 1999; Roemer, Orsillo, & Barlow, in press), we begin with a brief overview of the diagnostic criteria of GAD, its psychosocial impact, and the state of current psychotherapy outcome research on GAD. We then review existing research and theory on GAD (and worry) and acceptance-based/mindfulness approaches in an effort to propose a conceptual framework that may facilitate future basic research and treatment development efforts. We conclude with a brief overview of the treatment approach we are currently developing from the integration of these two areas of the literature. It is important to note that this model and our treatment are in preliminary stages; considerably more basic and treatment research is needed to determine the validity of the proposals we make here.