Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Anxiety
Dr. Cooper specializes in a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety. In moderation, anxiety is a normal part of life and can even be helpful. It can help motivate us, prepare us, and even enhance performance. When it becomes more pervasive, distressing, and interferes in life, it can become more problematic.
CBT has been extensively studied and is considered the gold standard treatment for anxiety-related disorders. CBT is a time-limited specialized evidence-based psychotherapy that involves learning to relate differently to your thoughts (cognitions), actions (behaviors), and emotions. This treatment is problem-focused and semi-structured, involves active collaboration between you and the clinician, and is tailored to meet your own unique goals. CBT helps you learn new skills and strategies to successfully manage your anxiety symptoms on your own in the future.
When treating anxiety-related disorders, clinicians often pull most heavily from a specialized form of CBT called exposure therapy. A key feature of unhelpful anxiety and fear is when it leads you to avoid certain situations, people, objects, and internal experiences and engage in behaviors intended to reduce the anxiety and perceived danger. In the short-term, avoidance, compulsions, and safety behaviors may diminish anxiety and fear. However, these well-intentioned behaviors often end up maintaining and worsening the fear and anxiety over time and lead to a much smaller and restricted life dictated by anxiety.
“Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Exposure therapy directly addresses these common anxiety-driven behaviors by reducing avoidance and gradually and systematically taking steps to safely approach feared situations through “exposures”. This allows you to test predictions about what you think will occur if you face your fears in the absence of safety behaviors or rituals. This can understandably sound scary and daunting. This collaborative, supportive, and empowering process is always your decision and driven by your goals. Exposure therapy often helps instill an immense sense of hope, strength, and accomplishment, where anxiety no longer controls your life.
Mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies are also incorporated into treatment when appropriate to manage challenging thoughts, behaviors and emotions and live a life in line with your values.
