Anxiety
Anyone can experience anxiety in their lives such as worrying about finances, children, health issues or dealing with traumatic events. However there is a difference between normal everyday anxiety and an Anxiety Disorder. The term “anxiety disorder” refers to persistent, seemingly uncontrollable and overwhelming worry, fear or concern about everyday life occurrences that are excessive. An Anxiety Disorder can be quite disabling, interfering with one’s daily life activities such as work, school or social relationships.
There are various types of anxiety disorders and all can be treated with professional help.
Following an initial assessment my therapeutic approach is first to refer clients to their primary care doctor for a physical exam (if this has not yet been done) to rule out possible physical causes for their anxiety symptoms. Once this is ruled out I use various therapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Training, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Exposure with Response Prevention, Action and Commitment Therapy and Psycho-education. Each client’s treatment plan is individualized and treatment can be either short term or longer term if needed.
In addition, if symptoms are particularly severe upon initial assessment or therapy alone is not effective enough I will refer the client to a psychiatrist for a medication evaluation.
The good news is treatment for Anxiety Disorders is available and can be very effective.