It is a a cognitive behavior therapy for the treatment of panic
disorder centering upon education about panic, training one to
breathe slowly, and graded in vivo exposures to indicators
correlated with panic.
PCT is based on cognitive-behavioural theoretical concepts. It
consists of a combination of cognitive and behavioral treatment
components, including education, cognitive restructuring, breathing
retraining or relaxation, and interoceptive exposure.
The essential components of PCT involve 1) education about the
nature and physiology of anxiety and panic, 2) breathing and
relaxation training for managing bodily symptoms, 3) cognitive
techniques designed to modify the tendency to catastrophically
misinterpret physical sensations, 4) exposure to exercises that
evoke feared physical sensations, and 5) situational exposure for
agoraphobic avoidance.