Anxiety Treatment

There are many different anxiety disorders that people face. Having a specific diagnosis helps each individual understand what they’re facing and how best to overcome it.

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), these are some of the most common anxiety disorders:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: GAD is when someone has anxiety symptoms that are persistent and excessive and interfere with their daily activities. Often, they worry about everyday responsibilities, such as work, school, family concerns, or taking care of appointments and tasks.
• Panic Disorder: With panic disorder, individuals have regular panic attacks, which are overwhelming. Panic attacks include physical and psychological symptoms such as heart racing, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pain, feeling detached, fear of dying, and more.
• Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia causes people to fear being in situations where they might not be able to leave, or leaving would be embarrassing or difficult. This fear is not proportional to the actual circumstances. It might include a fear of standing in line, using public transportation, being in open or enclosed spaces, or being outside their home.
• Specific Phobias: Phobias of particular objects, activities, or situations are considered anxiety disorders. Examples are fear of spiders, flying, clowns, or public speaking.
• Social Anxiety Disorder: Social anxiety disorder is diagnosed when someone has an extreme fear of being embarrassed, looked down on, humiliated, or rejected during social interactions. For example, someone might fear meeting new people, being called on in class, attending a party, or interviewing for a job.
• Separation Anxiety Disorder: Someone with this anxiety disorder feels excessively anxious about being separated from someone they’re attached to. This fear is not in line with what’s appropriate for their age and persists over a period of time. They may be unwilling to spend the night away from their loved one, have persistent nightmares about separation, and have other symptoms.

Getting appropriate treatment for anxiety is an important step in taking back your life and creating a future you’re proud of. At Elevate Recovery Center, our mental health professionals can provide a personalized treatment plan to help you reach long-term recovery.

Psychotherapy, often called “talk therapy”, allows therapists to help patients express how they feel and look for the roots of those feelings. Therapists can also use specific approaches to help patients challenge problem thinking patterns and create new mindsets. This can help them significantly reduce their symptoms and perhaps even overcome anxiety.

Clinical Psychology in Individual and Group Therapy

Psychological approaches can be used in both individual and group therapy settings. During individual therapy, you’re able to share more personal thoughts and feelings in a safe and accepting environment. In group therapy, you’re encouraged to share your experiences and learn from others’ stories. Group treatment helps you realize that you’re not alone in your struggles.

Individual and group therapy meet multiple days a week, so it’s a good way for a treatment center to provide support and give clients a solid foundation for recovery.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most commonly used therapy approaches for treating adults and teens. CBT is an effective way to treat anxiety, substance use disorders, mood disorders, relationship problems, and a variety of other issues.

During cognitive behavioral therapy, patients learn to identify unhelpful ways of thinking and challenge those thoughts. Then, they replace the with more helpful thinking patterns. This will help improve coping skills and allow them to have a greater sense of confidence in daily life.

If traumatic events are part of the root cause of the patient’s anxiety concerns, the therapist may use a version of CBT called cognitive processing therapy, which focuses on changing negative thoughts and beliefs that contribute to anxious feelings.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a form of CBT that adds several elements that are especially useful to treat anxiety. These elements are focused on mindfulness, improving distress tolerance, regulating emotion, and interpersonal relationships.

Because anxiety results in very distressing feelings, being better at managing and tolerating those emotions can be very freeing. Mindfulness, which helps you stay focused on the present moment, can also lessen disproportionate fears.

Learning these new skills can help you manage anxiety more effectively.

Exposure Therapy

Depending on what type of anxiety you have, exposure therapy can be an effective anxiety treatment. This approach allows you to gradually experience the objects or situations that cause anxiety, but in a safe and supportive environment. This allows you to manage your fears in a structured environment so you don’t have as much anxiety when you encounter it during daily life.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is a type of therapy that helps people develop psychological flexibility by accepting challenging situations and feelings, instead of fighting them. Instead, they commit to taking action in accordance with their personal values. ACT focuses on mindfulness based stress reduction, where individuals learn to be fully present in the current moment.

Family Therapy

Your family can be one of your best allies, which is why family therapy can be so powerful. The education in this approach also helps your loved ones understand your diagnosis and recovery. Family therapy can help young adults and older adults get supportive care and improve the impact of treatment for anxiety.

Holistic Approaches

Holistic therapies are complementary approaches that can complement cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or other common techniques. They are used in our PHP and intensive outpatient program. The treatment team creates a supportive environment where you can learn stress reduction techniques like meditation, yoga, and more.

New patients are often surprised to find that these methods can significantly reduce stress and improve a person’s condition significantly.

Both partial hospitalization program and intensive outpatient program can include psychiatric medication as one of the treatment options, depending on your treatment plan. While therapy is incredibly effective for managing anxiety, some individuals may benefit from adding medication to reduce the intensity of their symptoms. When used alongside therapy and holistic care, medication can provide significant relief and support long-term recovery.

Our psychiatric team works closely with you to determine whether medication is right for your situation. If it is, they’ll create a personalized plan based on your symptoms, medical history, and response to treatment. You’ll also have regular check-ins to ensure your medications are effective and well-tolerated.