Anxiety Disorder Treatment - City Psychology Center

We offer flexible treatment options for adults in any stage of life

Evidence-based therapy for Adults

CPC recognizes the demands and challenges of our modern world. For this reason, we offer both in person and telehealth options.

Therapy at CPC is conducted in a collaborative and supportive environment, with clinicians taking an active role in the treatment. Ample time is spent making sure that every client is paired with the best clinician for their individual needs. This pairing is based on a client’s individual treatment goals and preferences, as well as our expertise in making this match. Our philosophy is that finding the right fit is among the most important components to a successful and effectivce therapuetic experience.

 

Our practice prides itself on using the most up to date research to make decisions about individual patient care. In using these best practices, we increase the quality of treatment for each patient, making it more cost-effective and time-efficient for our clients. Every clinician in the practice has a doctoral degree and extensive training in the area of evidence-based therapies. 

Common Disorders We Treat

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is a natural and common emotion that everyone experiences at different points throughout their lives. Anxiety disorders, considered the most common type of mental health disorder, are persistent worry or fear that does not go away. In the US about 31.1% of adults will experience some type of anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Anxiety disorders can be broken down into different types, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, health anxiety and phobias.

The good news is that anxiety disorders are treatable. Through CBT you can learn how to think and respond differently to your thoughts and emotions. Our clinical psychologists will help you to break down unhelpful patterns you may be stuck in, and learn more adaptive ways of coping with distressing feelings and thoughts. Please contact us with any questions.

Social Anxiety Disorder (also referred to as Social Phobia) is an overwhelming fear of being judged or critiqued by others. This type of anxiety can interfere with work, school or your social relationships. A person who struggles with social anxiety disorder feels intense fear or anxiety when they are forced to be in new social situations. This includes going on a date, a job interview, or interacting with new people. Some people with social anxiety disorder may fear eating or drinking in public.

Treatment

At CPC we can teach you tools to manage your social anxiety and help you to overcome this fear. Therapy will include learning how to restructure your thoughts about social interactions, along with general social skills training, both in and out of session.

Panic Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It is characterized by recurrent unexpected panic attacks, which are surges in terror (panic) even when there is no danger. These attacks are associated with physiological changes including:

  • Racing heartbeat
  • Breathing difficulty
  • Sweating or trembling
  • Dizziness or weakness
  • Tingly or numbness in hands
  • Feeling hot or a cold chill

Treatment

Oftentimes people that experience recurrent panic attacks live in constant fear of having another one. This causes them to avoid certain places, which can exacerbate the anxiety. Our expertly trained clinical psychologists can teach you strategies to manage your physiological symptoms and overcome your fear of having another attack. Treatment will be a combination of cognitive restructuring, relaxation training and behavioral interventions.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is marked by persistent and excessive worry about everyday life events. While some anxiety is a normal part of life, people with GAD often feel that they are constantly assuming the worst-case scenario and live with extreme worry about things. The disorder can interfere with a person’s daily life functioning, including productivity and mood. Symptoms of Generalized anxiety disorder may include:

  • Persistent worrying about current or future events 
  • Tendency to assume the worst-case outcome in plans
  • Difficulty tolerating uncertainty
  • Indecisiveness and concern about decisions
  • Difficulty relaxing, or constant feeling of restlessness
  • Trouble concentrating on tasks

Treatment

CPC’s psychologists can help you to manage your anxiety. You will learn how to tolerate uncertainty with less fear, and learn techniques to better manage anxiety-provoking thoughts that can greatly improve your quality of life.

Health Anxiety Disorder is characterized by excessive worry about one’s health and the belief that one is at constant risk of developing a serious illness. People with health anxiety will be hyper-vigilant to changes in their body and tend to jump to conclusions about small feelings of sensations in their body. For example, someone with health anxiety may believe that their stomach ache is a sign they have cancer. This type of fear makes it difficult to focus on other things and interferes with their functioning.

In addition to persistent thoughts about their health, someone with health anxiety tends to spend an inordinate amount of time visiting doctors. They may also spend a great deal of time researching symptoms and disorders on their own, further interfering with their lives.

Treatment

CPC psychologists will help you to challenge and manage unhelpful thoughts about your health. You will also learn to live more comfortably with minor changes in your body including aches and pains. You will gain valuable tools to better manage your health anxiety and be able to be more present in your life.

A phobia is characterized by excessive fear of specific stimuli. This could include objects or situations. People with specific phobias go to great lengths to avoid coming into contact with the feared stimuli. Common examples include fear of certain animals, flying, and closed spaces.

Treatment

Your psychologist at CPC will work with you to develop an individualized treatment plan to help overcome your phobia. Through gradual exposure and thought restructuring you will learn how to feel comfortable around the feared object and go about living your life without the need to avoid it.

OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is marked by recurrent and intrusive thoughts that cause significant distress and that the individual feels unable to stop thinking about. The thoughts may be seen as upsetting or stressful to the individual, and oftentimes lead to the development of compensatory “safety” behaviors that the individual feels obligated to do to neutralize their thoughts and manage their anxiety.

Common Types of OCD Obsessions are:
  • Checking related to safety fears about themselves or others. This may lead to urges to check locks, ovens, or light switches a certain amount of times and a fear that if the person doesn’t engage in these behaviors something bad will happen to a loved one. 
  • Contamination related to fears around germs and cleanliness. This may lead to obsessive hand washing or avoidance of places or stimuli identified as contaminated.
  • Symmetry and Ordering characterized by an urge to have things lined up a certain way. 
  • Harm OCD involves intrusive thoughts, urges or images of harming others or oneself. This may include mental images of harming others. 
  • Scrupulousity includes obsessiveness about following rules—often linked to religious and moral rules, which become a preoccupation for the individual. 

Treatment

Treatment of OCD will begin with a thorough assessment of your symptoms, which will allow your CPC clinician to develop a treatment plan for you. Treatment will consist of Exposure and Response Prevention therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy—both of which will help to decrease your obsessional thoughts and reduce urges to engage in compulsive behaviors. 

Depression

While everyone can feel sad or down at times, Major Depressive Disorder is a type of mood disorder that is pervasive and interferes with one’s functioning. It can seem to appear out of nowhere, or be triggered by a stressor. Depression affects a person’s ability to enjoy previously pleasurable activities and can affect one’s ability to manage daily life activities including sleeping and eating. Common symptoms of depression include:

  • Sad or anxious mood
  • Feelings of hopelessness
  • Irritability
  • Feelings of guilt/worthlessness
  • Decreased energy or fatigue
  • Difficult game concentrating
  • Sleep disruptions
  • Appetite and or weight changes
  • Suicidal thoughts or actions
  • Loss of interest in pleasure

Treatment

Your CPC clinician will start by conducting a full assessment, including taking a developmental history, to determine contributing factors to your mood symptoms. The focus of treatment will be in identifying negative patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are perpetuating your symptoms. You will learn concrete strategies to change how you think and cope with your emotions.

Life Transitions

Life changes that occur, even changes that we consider positive, can sometimes trigger strong emotional reactions such as stress or anxiety. Our clinicians can help you to cope more effectively with these transitions, and feel more empowered to handle change.

Treatment

In therapy, you will learn concrete tools to manage your emotions more effectively, or to help with decision making that may be needed. Whether it is attending or graduating from college, changing careers, having a baby, managing a death or divorce, you will learn how to cope with the change and not feel so alone in your life transition.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that has been shown to impact around 30% of the population. It is characterized as persistent problems falling or staying asleep or early morning waking. While everyone may have at times difficulty falling asleep, insomnia is a chronic issue of sleeplessness or sleep disturbance that can interfere with a person’s quality of life. Furthermore, insomnia has been shown to put individuals at higher risk of physical illness. Individuals struggling with insomnia often report fatigue, loss of energy and challenges completing mundane tasks.

Treatment

CPC psychologists will begin by examining your sleep environment and any factors that may be creating disturbed sleep. Psychoeducation will be provided to help you understand variables in your life that may need to change including your sleep routine and proper sleep hygiene. Using cognitive behavioral therapy, your City Psychology Center (CPC) psychologist will work with you to restructure your thoughts around sleep and identify unhelpful thoughts that may be affecting your sleep. Our psychologists will help determine if insomnia is the primary problem, or if it may be associated with other mental health disorders including anxiety or depression that need to be treated in conjunction with your insomnia.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD can occur after an individual has witnessed or experienced personal assault, a serious accident, war or death of a loved one. A person diagnosed with PTSD may suffer from frequent nightmares or flashbacks of the event, depression, and or increased arousal that leads to feeling easily irritated or angry. They may also go to great lengths to avoid places or objects that remind them of the traumatic event.

Treatment

PTSD has been shown to respond effectively to treatment with exposure. With this type of therapy, you will be exposed, in a safe environment to stimuli that may remind you of the trauma, including specific places, images or objects. The goal is for you to learn how to be around these triggers without them causing significant distress. With treatment, you will feel more in control and the traumatic event will no longer feel like it is taking over your life.

Relationship Issues

Every relationship has ups and downs. Whether you need help navigating a specific issue, or want to improve your overall communication skills as a couple, CPC clinicians can help.

Treatment

CPC clinicians are experts in couples therapy. We will start by conducting a thorough intake from each partner in the couple, that will help guide the treatment plan. Through exercises in session, and activities assigned outside of sessions, you will develop better communication skills and greater emotional connection from therapy.

Find Your Match

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