Mental health professionals with a specialty in anxiety disorders: Knowledge, training, and perceived competence in smoking cessation practices

Knowledge and perceived competence regarding smoking cessation was examined among mental health professionals who specialize in the treatment of anxiety disorders (n = 75). Results indicated that therapists assess smoking behavior in less than 30% of clients, perceive themselves as “definitely unprepared” to deliver smoking cessation treatment, and only a minority (17%) have received formal training in empirically based smoking cessation practices during the past 3 years. When benchmarked against primary care physicians, anxiety specialists illustrated deficits in “basic” smoking-cessation counseling practices (e.g., assess for smoking behavior). Anxiety specialists who had received formal training in smoking cessation in the past 3 years reported significantly greater levels of perceived preparedness in helping an anxiety-disordered patient quit and delivered a greater degree of evidence-based smoking cessation treatment. Implications of these data for the role of smoking cessation counseling in mental health training programs for anxiety disorders are discussed.