Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health illness in the U.S.

While anxiety or worry can be helpful in an emergency situation, most often individuals are experiencing heightened anxiety for less threatening situations. Symptoms may stem from common day-to-day experiences to odd or unusual content. Finding mentally healthy ways to deal with their anxiety can prove challenging for people seeking therapy and treatment in Gainesville, FL or across the state of Florida. Our expertly trained professionals can help develop a personalized treatment plan to handle your anxiety.

How We Can Help

We do a thorough evaluation to determine the type of anxiety the client is presenting with to guide the intervention. Many symptoms of anxiety are treatable through evidence-based techniques, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy (ET), and mindfulness therapy approaches. Our team has extensive training in providing CBT with ET/ERP.

We work with you to develop an individualized plan to help you manage your anxiety and behave in ways that are in accordance with who you are and what you want, instead of making choices based on anxiety.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive anxiety and worry surrounding a number of domains such as family, school, work, etc., which results in significant distress or impairment. Individuals with GAD find it difficult to control their worry and may experience the following symptoms: a feeling of restlessness, being easily fatigued, irritability, muscle tension, concentration difficulties, or sleep disturbance. Somatic symptoms are also commonly experienced in individuals with GAD, such as nausea, sweating, shortness of breath, and headaches, among others.

Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) 

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) experience fear, anxiety, or avoidance of social situations and interactions where they may be scrutinized. Situations or interactions that may induce this fear or anxiety can range from a conversation with an unfamiliar person to eating and drinking in front of people, to public speaking. There is a fear of negative evaluation based on humiliation, embarrassment, or rejection. In children, a social phobia may present as resistance to going to school, clinging, tantrums, or freezing in social situations.

Specific Phobias

Individuals with Specific Phobias may experience marked fear or anxiety about a specific situation or object, such as a fear of spiders, flying, heights, etc. These specific phobic situations or objects provoke fear or anxiety that is out of proportion to the actual danger. Individuals with specific phobias may experience signs of anxiety, such as sweating, increased heart rate, and nausea when encountering or anticipating their phobia.