When a Client Has Panic Attacks — Clinical Toolkit
Panic is treatable. The challenge for therapists is knowing what to do when it happens in the room, how to explain it to clients in a way that actually reduces the fear of it, and how to target the avoidance that is maintaining the disorder. This toolkit gives you the language for all of it.
What is in this toolkit
In-session panic protocols — what to do when a client has a panic attack during a session, how to regulate your own response, and how to use your presence as co-regulatory information without doing it performatively.
Psychoeducation scripts — how to explain panic to clients in a way that reduces the fear of fear. The “uncomfortable, not dangerous” framework and how to make it actually land.
Grounding options for different clients — breathing techniques, sensory anchoring, orientation exercises, and when each one is more or less helpful. Why breathing techniques sometimes make panic worse and what to use instead.
Debriefing a panic attack — the clinical questions that turn what just happened in the room into usable material. How to help the client observe panic rather than just survive it.
Avoidance mapping — how to identify and work with the behavioral avoidance that is maintaining the panic disorder, and how to explain the exposure rationale without losing the client.
Anticipatory anxiety scripts — language for the fear of having another panic attack, which is usually the primary clinical target once the initial panic is understood.
Who this is for
Outpatient therapists working with panic disorder or panic symptoms in a general caseload who want clear in-session language and a clinical framework for moving beyond psychoeducation into effective treatment.