Twelve Sundays later, after sitting through Mrs. Bancroft's pale rendition of the song, I asked my friend Jackie, who at 15 knew all the church's business, what happened to Mrs. Williams. "Angie," Jackie said, "Mrs. Williams has bad nerves."

Not long after Jackie told me this, I witnessed Mrs. Williams's bad nerves for myself. I was in the grocery store with my father when I noticed a familiar figure in the produce section. It was Mrs. Williams, but she looked odd. She was breathing funny and clutching her chest. She ran up to my father and begged him to help her. He walked her to the front of the store and arranged for one of the bag boys to drive her home. When he returned he shook his head and said, "It's her nerves."

Twenty-five years have past since I witnessed Mrs. Williams' bad nerves in the grocery store. You and I know that what I actually saw that day was a panic attack. But today, despite the available research, in many African American communities little is known or shared about panic attacks. As a result, many Black women are unaware that what they are experiencing has a name and that treatment is available.

In the rest of this presentation, I share about a group treatment for African American women known as sister-circles. Sister-circles are an integral part of African American women's lives. This aspect of Black women's lives can be adapted and modified to deliver cognitive behavioral treatment for panic attacks. Conference attendees will become familiar with how to start and maintain a sister-circle. A culturally enhanced cognitive behavioral technique, theme songs to replace "what if " thinking, will be demonstrated. Data are presented on the effectiveness of the sister-circles as an intervention for African American women with panic attacks.