Treatment

My Approach: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a form of psychological treatment that has been carefully developed and tested by psychologists and psychiatrists using high scientific standards. I have conducted some of the research supporting its use with anxiety disorders. CBT is a skills-based approach that begins with building a supportive relationship. The therapist listens carefully to the patient's description of the problem, identifies maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving, and then helps the patient apply various skills and techniques to modify problematic behaviors and reduce anxiety and fear. The goal of CBT is to learn to use these skills to reduce anxiety and get on with life.

Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia
It may seem paradoxical, but it's true: anxiety and fear just get worse the more you try to fight or avoid them. CBT for panic attacks and agoraphobia involves techniques to help you learn that anxiety and panic are not dangerous, and that you don't need to rely on "safety strategies," avoidance, or anti-anxiety medications to manage your anxiety or keep you safe (more ).

Social Anxiety
For better or for worse, others don't pay nearly as much attention to us as we sometimes think that they do. People with social anxiety, however, are afraid of being embarrassed in front of others. They often feel that avoiding social situations and using strategies like drinking alcohol are the only ways to manage their fears. CBT strategies help the person learn that feeling embarrassed, if it happens at all, is not as terrible as it seems. (more)

Specific Phobias
When you overestimate the degree of danger posed by certain situations or objects-- storms, animals, the dark, heights, airplanes, enclosed places-- the result is a phobia or "irrational fear." Trying to avoid these feared objects may seem like a good strategy in the moment, but this backfires in the long-run. In CBT, you practice confronting your fears so that you can learn that these situations are less dangerous than you thought. (more)

Health Anxiety
Living with the specter of an unresolved health issue is frightening and isolating. No one believes you're really sick, but you can sense it in your body. Even the doctors can't seem to explain your symptoms--they just say it's "stress." I understand that it's not "all in your head," and I draw on CBT techniques developed from behavioral medicine specialists to help you manage your symptoms in new and more helpful ways. Think about it-- you don't have anything to lose by considering how worrying about your health could be making you feel even sicker (more) .

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
My approach to general anxiety and worry is to help the person identify patterns of jumping to conclusions about awful events that never seem to materialize, or turn out as bad as expected. When you learn how to change the way you think about worrysome situations, you gain control over your emotions and take back back your life.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event -- a physical or sexual assault, natural disaster, serious accident, military combat, etc. -- can change a person's view of the world from a relatively safe place to a dangerous one. The mind and body change too: maybe you get nightmares and flashbacks, pehaps you're more hypersensitive and easily startled, you expect the worst, become distant from loved ones, and experience guilt and depression. CBT for these symptoms includes various strategies for helping you process the traumatic event in a safe and controlled way so that you can put your life back together. (more)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
I have worked extensively with adults with OCD to help them reduce the burden of obsessions, anxiety and doubt; and to help them eliminate time consuming and disruptive ritualistic behavior. The key to overcoming this problem is learning to live with acceptable levels of risk and uncertainty. This takes lots of practice. I begin with a thorough assessment of OCD symptoms so that we can build an effective treatment plan together. The centerpiece of my approach is exposure and response prevention, a research-proven set of techniques in which I help the patient gradually and systematically confront his or her fears and uncertainties while learning to resist ritualistic urges. I recommend  a self-help format in the book Getting Over OCD. Your may read more about OCD ( more )

Obsesive compulsive Cognitions Working group (OCCWG)

Six domains:

1. Inflated responsibility,

2. Overstimation of threat,

3. Intolerance of uncertainty,

4. Need to control thoughts,

5. Over importance of thoughts, and

6. Perfectionism.

Four Subtypes:

1. Symmetry obsessions and repeating,ordering,and counting compulsions.

2. Agression,sexual,religious, and somatic obsessions and checking compulsions

3. Cleaning and contamination

4. Hoarding obsessions and compulsions                                 

 Insomnia

Sleep is essential to our physical and mental health.

When we don't sleep well, it affects all aspects of our lives—work performance, concentration, memory, mood, relationships, sexual functioning, weight, physical health, and our ability to manage life's daily stresses.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the treatment of choice for most forms of insomnia. CBT has been scientifically proven to be more effective and the results are longer lasting than treatment with sleep medications such as Ambien, Lunesta, Restoril, or over-the-counter sleep aids. That’s because CBT treats the underlying causes of persistent insomnia or sleep disruption, whereas medication treats only the symptoms. When you run out of sleep medication, your symptoms return or even worsen. But when you complete CBT, you will be able to sleep better—on your own.

General information on anxiety disorders and the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma:

Anxiety disorders are a group of problems characterised by fear and anxiety. The feeling of fear is usually accompanied by physical symptoms (such as heart racing, sweating, tense muscles and so on) and changes in behaviour often called avoidance behaviours. Although everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, anxiety becomes a disorder when the symptoms or avoidance behaviours interfere with the person's life and stop them doing things they want to do. Anxiety may focus on a range of different things which explains why we recognise a range of different anxiety disorders (see below). Opinions vary as to how common anxiety disorders are. It is generally accepted that around 16% of adults are suffering from an anxiety disorder at any one time. This means approximately one in six people. Anxiety disorders are more common in women than men although this varies between the different disorders listed below. Examples of anxiety disorders are Agoraphobia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Social Phobia.

The Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma aims to:

1. Provide and develop evidence-based cognitive-behavioural treatments to people suffering from anxiety disorders
2. Continuously audit and refine the treatments

Whether you suffer with an anxiety disorder yourself or you know someone who does, or you work in this field, we hope the information on our website will be helpful.