Welcome to Anxiety Treatment Center

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FAQ’s

I heard that someone who has “pure obsessions” cannot be treated. Is that true?
No. Many people do not understand that an obsession is in fact, a form of a mental compulsion. Therefore, exposure therapy is very useful in attacking obsessional thoughts, both through imaginal and in vivo exposure exercises.
Relapse prevention is an integral part of our therapy therefore; every effort is made to reduce the risk for relapse. Our goal in therapy is to teach individuals how to apply the tools they have learned on a daily basis while in treatment so that should symptoms surface, they will know how to address them.
As to date, we have never seen this happen. Most people who come into our treatment program have their own individual fears and are not transferred or taken on by others.
Yes. It is not uncommon that if one is struggling with anxiety that feelings of depression can occur. Often as the anxiety decreases, one will experience a relief if depressive symptoms as well. Conversely, some may need to begin with addressing the depression prior to working on the anxiety.
Yes, and amazingly well! Children are able to grasp the principles and if they are receptive to treatment, respond to the gentle support from their therapist.
No. Research supports that anxiety associated with OCD (and other clinical anxiety conditions) is a result of a chemical imbalance and/or environmental factors which causes people to be afraid or fearful of things that they would not be afraid of otherwise.
Medication, especially SSRIs, has been shown to have positive effects to reduce anxiety. Results will vary from each individual. However, it is important to remember that the behavioral work is a key to beginning to address the specific etiology of the anxiety and target those symptoms through the therapy.

A common fear is “if I have this thought, does it mean it is real and I will react to it”? It’s important to remember that when one is fearful, the typical reaction is to avoid due to the fear. This is why helping individuals to slowly develop the skills to confront their anxiety is a natural response to that reduction of fear or anxiety.

There is scientific data that supports that ERP is the front-line, evidenced based treatment, for OCD and many anxiety related conditions. It is a systematic desensitization to one’s fears often providing long-term effectiveness.