Treating clinically significant avoidance of public transport following the London bombings?

BACKGROUND

The present paper describes the cognitive-behavioural approach evolved and adapted to treat survivors of the London bombings experiencing fear and avoidance of public transport (travel phobia).

METHOD: Treatment outcomes for a consecutive case series (N = 11) are reported.

RESULTS

All individuals who completed treatment (N = 10) had returned to their pre-bombing use of transport and reported minimal symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The need for appropriately tailored treatment based on differential diagnosis and formulation and the importance of incorporating skills for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder are discussed.