Anxiety & Panic
calm
I have found over the years that clients tend to seek therapy when the physiological symptoms interfere with their ability to function in their day-to-day. With constant demands and a fast-paced lifestyle indicative of living in Los Angeles, anxiety can feel inescapable.
The great news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable in a therapeutic setting. Using evidence-based practices, we can reduce anxiety by challenging unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most widely used and effective treatment for anxiety disorders. I use this form of psychotherapy to focus on how one’s thoughts, attitudes and beliefs contributes to dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions. I treat the identified destructive patterns by boosting self-compassion and employing strategies to challenge and overcome.
CBT is appropriate for people of all ages and is the foundation of my clinical practice for over 25 years. Just as important as CBT is the supplemental practices of psychoeducation around anxiety and panic disorders, as well as somatic practices such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
Anxiety disorders and symptoms are extremely common and one of the most widespread mental health disorders. 1 in 3 people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 4 people with anxiety disorders receive treatment for this condition. We find that more biological females than biological males are affected by an anxiety disorder and in current times, symptoms of anxiety are showing up in childhood or adolescence.
Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms?
Trouble concentrating or making decisions
Feeling irritable, tense, restless or easily angered
Experiencing nausea or abdominal distress without an organic cause
Having heart palpitations or chest tightness
Sweating, trembling, shaking without a change in actual temperature
Trouble sleeping, unable to turn off your mind, ruminating
Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom with the need to get out of your body or the situation at hand