Key ideas from Donald Robertson

• Exposure therapy has a 90% success rate for animal phobias within three hours when done optimally - the most robustly established technique in psychotherapy research
• Avoidance prevents natural emotional habituation and is the root of all evil in anxiety treatment, maintaining problems long-term
• Worry postponement reduces frequency, intensity, and duration of worry episodes by 50% within 2-3 weeks using simple scheduling techniques
• CBT for anger has a 70% success rate, higher than depression or PTSD, making it potentially the best starting point for treatment
• Most self-help fails because people compartmentalize skills rather than practicing continual self-observation throughout the day
• Anger often functions as a distraction technique, covering up feelings of hurt, shame, or helplessness by externalizing attention