Anxiety

Generalized Anxiety

Generalized anxiety disorder is a condition in which one experiences profound anxiety or worry and has difficulty controlling this symptom. It is common for individuals to have increased restlessness, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, sleep issues, and/or trouble with concentration. Cognitive behavioral therapy aids in identifying your thoughts on the benefits and costs associated with worry. Overcoming avoidance in regards to your worry is also investigated, while assessing how this may be impacting your life/functioning. Behavioral interventions such as muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and behavioral rehearsal are employed to minimize symptom expression. Stress reduction is developed to improve such things as problem solving and interpersonal interactions. It is additionally pertinent to reduce negative automatic thoughts through cognitive restructuring. Coaching is provided to help individuals in gaining insight to excessive focus on negative feelings and how they mitigate personal goals.

Panic

Panic symptoms often begin with the feeling of impending doom that can be accompanied by such discomforts as heart palpitations, sweating, shaking and/or dizziness. These troubling body sensations are likely interpreted as catastrophic by our brain. In treatment cognitive restructuring is employed to target maladaptive translations of bodily sensations, all while fostering coping self-statements in anxiety provoking situations. Learning techniques to understand your body are focused on, in addition to working on exposures involving discomfort within the body. Breathing retraining and relaxation exercises are conducted to aid in coping with distress. Exposure is a component of treatment and is conducted in a safe and controlled environment by the provider.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is defined as one being fearful of social situations or interactions with people. An element that exacerbates this fear is being in a social environment in which the individual can be negatively judged. It is often the feeling of embarrassment is intolerable, leading to individuals isolating themselves and changing behaviors. By changing behaviors (i.e., going to grocery store), the individual limits their ability to experience the world and achieve goals. Exposure, cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, and social skills training are combined to work on reducing symptoms as well as distress.