ABSTRACT
Fear fits the facts when there is danger. It keeps us safe from danger by either avoiding it or freezing until the danger has passed us by. Anxiety is thought to occur when the danger is still far enough away that the person can flee from it. This chapter discusses the signature features of fear and anxiety and presents an example scenario of anxiety in which a client cut himself after worrying about an argument in which his landlord threatened to evict him. It highlights special considerations in regulating anxiety and fear. Anxiety confuses therapists because the action urge for anxiety is to avoid, which is an opposite action in itself. The cure for inappropriate anxiety and fear is exposure to the feared thing, essentially acting opposite to the urge to run away or avoid. Anxiety has the worst rap, with clients and therapists automatically assuming it must be reduced or eliminated, instead of treated like any other emotion.
