Fear, Anxiety, and Phobia A New Theoretical Approach Beyond Freud, Watson, and the DSM

Acknowledgments — Introduction — Objective and Structure — Ten Benchmarks for Theory Appraisal — PBT's Four Major Hypotheses — Conclusions — PART I THEORIES OF FEAR, ANXIETY, AND PHOBIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW — Psychoanalysis — Behaviorism — Pavlovian Paradigm — Preparedness Theory — Interoceptive Conditioning Theory — Stress-Induced Recovery Theory — Cognitive Theory — Conditioning Model — Misinterpretation Theory — Anxiety Sensitivity Theory — Biological Models — The Non-Associative Account — Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia — Suffocation False Alarm Theory — Mitral Valve Prolapse — Discussion — PART II PSYCHO-BIZARRENESS THEORY: THE RATIONAL THEORY OF MADNESS — Chapter 1 The Development of Bizarre (Neurotic) Disorders — Foundations of the Psycho-Bizarreness Theory — Multi-Case Study of PBT's Major Concepts — Discussion — Chapter 2 Unawareness: Self-Deceptive Processes — The Creation of Unawareness — The Preservation of Unawareness — Stabilization of Unawareness — Discussion — Chapter 3 PBT's Integrative Therapeutic Model — Nullifying the Self-Deceptive Belief — Modifying Symptom Controllability — Pharmacological Intervention — Placebo — PBT's Rational Insight Therapy — PBT's Therapeutic Eclecticism — Symptom Substitution — Discussion — PART III THE RATIONAL-AUTOMATIC CONDITIONING THEORY OF SIMPLE PHOBIA — Introduction — Fundamental Claims — RACT's Five Fundamental Principles — Evidence — General Discussion and Conclusions — References — About the Author — Index

Biography

Yacov Rofé is a retired Professor of Psychology and former Chair of the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He also taught in the Department of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and served as a visiting professor at Rutgers Medical School in New Jersey.

Professor Rofé has published extensively in leading psychology journals. Among his major contributions is Stress and Affiliation: A Utility Theory, published in Psychological Review (1984). Another influential article, published in Review of General Psychology (2008), offers a comprehensive critique of the concepts of repression and the Freudian unconscious.

Throughout his academic career, Professor Rofé has sought to resolve longstanding theoretical problems in psychopathology by developing a rational account of psychological disorders. His work has led to two complementary theoretical frameworks: the Psycho-Bizarreness Theory (PBT), which explains bizarre psychopathological disorders as rational coping mechanisms under conditions of intolerable stress, and the Rational-Automatic Conditioning Theory (RACT), which explains the development of non-bizarre fears and simple phobias through automatic fear conditioning. His most recent book, Fear, Anxiety, and Phobia: A New Theoretical Approach Beyond Freud, Watson, and the DSM presents these complementary theories as a unified framework for understanding fear, anxiety, phobia, and psychopathology.

Robert Aumann
Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Rofé's theory, revolutionary as it sounds, fits well into the frameworks of economics, game theory, and evolution."

Daniel Algom
Professor of Psychology
Tel Aviv University

"This is a fantastic book. It presents a thought-provoking theory on the origins and treatment of psychopathological phenomena. Although challenging, the scholarship is solid and dogma-free, and the writing is simply brilliant. This book is a must-read for both clinicians and scientists in the broad field of mental health and mental disorders."