We receive many calls from individuals looking for help with their anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders. We’re not always able to help everyone (some people live out of state, some don’t have an anxiety disorder, while others are solely seeking medication), so we try to supply information as they seek other providers. Here are…
Read MoreIn most cities we’ve seen offices, entertainment, and schools reopen. Some people are struggling with anxiety about re-entering. There may be increased anxiety about socializing in person, feeling scrutinized by others or feeling self-conscious. For other people it may feel or be risky to engage in-person due to health concerns. Here are a few points…
Read More**Important book for parents with children who suffer from OCD and Anxiety** If you have not heard of Dr. Eli Lebowitz and the SPACE program, today is your day. I am not associated with this book, but have found the SPACE program to be groundbreaking in helping parents. Many of you have loved…
Read MoreAnxious, anxiety, worry, nervous, stress. People use these terms often and may not realize that an anxiety disorder does not feel the same as the unease that most people experience occasionally. If you have an anxiety disorder you know that you are not having occasional nagging worries. If you are anxious, it’s not…
Read MoreI was a graduate student when I first heard Kristin Neff (pioneer in the field of self-compassion) speak. I remember being blown away by this concept of being kind towards yourself. As a student I had a crazy schedule, juggling two labs, three clinical sites, a dissertation, and classes. I felt the need to always…
Read MoreKids listen. They hear things and interpret things in ways we may not as adults. This week my sweet son let me know he was not opening his stocking on Christmas. I waited until he felt like telling me why and it came out that he was afraid that Santa was going to give…
Read MoreWe have anywhere from 50,000-80000 thoughts in a day. That is way too many thoughts to keep track of. So many of our thoughts pass through without us noticing. But we cannot believe every thought we have. There are so many untrue thoughts or unhelpful thoughts that we accept because we just…
Read MoreWeb MD, healthline, mayoclinic and other sites like these can be helpful in deciding when to visit a doctor or deciding treatment for mild concerns. If you have anxiety though, you may experience panic and fear when googled symptoms are ‘consistent’ with severe illnesses. You can spend hours on the internet convinced that…
Read MoreIf you struggle with anxiety, the holiday season can be a time of high stress. There are gifts to buy, decorations to hang, traditions to follow, and people to please. This can lead to worries and tension about doing things ‘right’. This desire to do things ‘right’ is mentally and physically exhausting. …
Read MoreWe most commonly hear about stress being bad and to be avoided. It actually turns out stress can be useful in specific, time limited situations – and an unavoidable part of life. As the year winds down, many of us have looming projects and deadlines that create stress: Final exams, annual sales goals and reports…
Read MoreNot all thoughts are positive and that’s okay. A mistake people make when they try to challenge thoughts is to just think rosy positive thoughts. “I’ll do perfectly on my presentation” “I’ll be totally fine while driving” “Today is going to be the best day ever” While some people enjoy mantras or manifesting good things…
Read MoreA lot of metaphors around anxiety use water. Waves, rivers, ocean currents, rainstorms… When we talk about these natural elements, we can understand the lack of control. Most people have heard stories about fighting against ocean currents and the need to swim parallel. Many people have ridden down a river and…
Read MoreI get the question often about whether a person’s anxiety is “bad enough” to seek treatment. Even if it is mild, it is worth treating! You are worth treating! It can be hard to dedicate time to mental health, but it may be a time saver in the future.…
Read MoreHere is a story to give you a sense of the intensity of flight/flight. We were living in a two-story town home with a large sliding glass door that opened into a common grassy area. It’s around 3am. Pitch black. My partner and I are both asleep upstairs. We hear…
Read MoreHave you ever had that friend who constantly asks to borrow things, asks for a ride, asks for cash, asks for a favor, but they never reciprocate? If you keep saying ‘yes’, you end up feeling used, frustrated, and exhausted. Anxiety is a taker. And the way to break out is by saying…
Read More“I need to be control of things.” “I have to make sure I have all my bases covered all the time.” “My gut is telling me that’s a bad idea.” “If that goes wrong, it’ll be horrible.” Everyday we walk around with underlying belief systems that affect how we behave, whether we are…
Read MoreImagine you fall into a river. More than anything you want to get back out at the same point you fell in. So you’re fighting, you’re going against the current, you’re getting hit by sticks and scraping your body on rocks, all to get out where fell in. But you have…
Read MoreThere is not always a direct trigger for our feelings. And sometimes the endless search for a “reason” behind a feeling turns into a hyper focus on our feelings. That can even make it feel bigger. Sometimes there isn’t a reason. Feelings come and go. The goal isn’t to dissect every feeling that…
Read More“Unprecedented” “Trying” “Uncertain” “Challenging” “Difficult” As we adjust to a “new normal”, all of the above words have been used repeatedly in advertisements, by newscasters, politicians and neighbors to describe significant shifts in our lives due to the pandemic, significant political shifts, social upheaval and even how we discuss these issues. One of the most…
Read MoreA few months ago I made a medical decision that led to a negative outcome for one of my kids. It was not life-threatening, but my anxiety clung onto the thought and intensified it. I had a several hour period where I felt incapacitated by worry. My thoughts were racing and seeking out horrible (unrealistic)…
Read MorePanic disorder and agoraphobia are associated with very strong physical and emotional experiences. If you have had a panic attack in the past, you know how overwhelming the sensations can feel. I recently read the fictional book All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and was gripped by this powerful description of a…
Read MoreIf someone falls and gets a cut, you may get them a band aid . If someone has a headache, you may get them medicine. If someone has a sunburn, you may get them aloe vera. When we see people experiencing some sort of distress, the normal and natural response is to do something to…
Read MoreMany of the calls we receive at the OC Anxiety Center begin with “I’m anxious and depressed and I need help.” While anxiety and mood disorders are often co-occurring, treatment goals differ significantly resulting in different approaches to treatment. One question to ask yourself is “What’s the bigger problem right now?” or “If I had…
Read More“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” ― Bruce Lee Last summer I was trying to teach my son how to swim. He was improving, and could just make it across side-to-side in the shallow end, and felt very proud (and to be honest, I felt a bit…
Read MoreThe OC Anxiety Center has been asked by different organizations to participate and/or lead in many Zoom meetings for private schools, therapist organizations and counseling centers. One of the questions that other professionals have been asking is “how has COVID affected your patients?”. Many assume that there’s a large influx of patients with the increase…
Read MoreUnprecedented events often lead to anxiety and worry, as we do not know how to respond to them. We often try to control what we can (whether actually useful or not), and over-analyze information while worrying about what the future may hold. We are seeing these patterns in our patients (and our friends and family).…
Read MoreMy son refused to finish his breakfast yesterday. Over the past two weeks, my wife and I noticed a change in his behavior in the mornings: after I sat him down for breakfast, got him started and would take the dog out for a walk, he would run upstairs to my wife, claim that he…
Read MoreVery often during my first interaction with potential patients on the phone, I’ll hear them say something like “I’m sure you’ve never heard this one before” or “I’m really embarrassed, but I’m really scared of…” I can understand the embarrassment and shame of different fears and worries, especially with OCD. However, after years of clinical practice…
Read MoreLooking for a provider on websites like “Psychology Today” can be daunting: the different types of degrees, specialties and vast number of therapists can be overwhelming. Recently, the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a treatment modality has become more prevalent on television, in magazines and when viewing online resources. While this is good,…
Read MoreThere has been a significant increase in the interest in CBD oil in the past few years. At least once a week we field a question about its use for anxiety, the most common of which is “Should I use CBD for my anxiety?” The short answer is “Maybe”. It should be noted that there…
Read More