Therapy Approach
Science-backed exposure therapy and DBT skills, tailored to you.
“Do the thing you fear to do and keep doing it. That is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.”Dale CarnegieExposure Therapy
I treat anxiety-related disorders using a collaborative, evidence-based approach called exposure therapy, including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Therapy and Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy. These exposure-based treatments are highly effective, robust interventions for helping people overcome their fears.
How Exposure Therapy Works
As humans, we are wired to avoid pain—whether physical or emotional. Unfortunately, however, when it comes to emotional pain, our attempts to avoid often backfire. This is particularly true for the emotion of anxiety, as the intuitive avoidance behaviors many of us reach for when feeling anxious are what tend to maintain and exacerbate anxiety over time.
Accordingly, exposure therapy aims to help individuals break the habit of reducing anxiety through avoidance. More specifically, exposure-based treatments consist of repeated, prolonged exposures during which individuals intentionally approach anxiety-provoking memories, situations, objects, people, places, thoughts, images, or physical sensations in the absence of avoidance behaviors or compulsions aimed at reducing anxiety or preventing some feared outcome from happening. This structured practice—both in and out of session—allows for powerful, corrective learning to occur.
Learning Through Exposures
Through repeated exposure practice, we learn the following life-changing lessons:
Most importantly, we learn that we can tolerate anxiety—no matter how intense it may be—without giving in to the unhelpful urges that accompany it.
A bonus side effect of welcoming anxiety in this way is that we may just find that it has a chance to naturally decline on its own.
We also learn that we don’t have to give in to our urges to avoid, and we may even notice the intensity of these urges decreasing the longer we are able to refrain from giving in to them.
In addition, we learn that the things we fear happening are unlikely to happen, and that even if they do happen, we can tolerate them. And in the meantime, we get a chance to strengthen our muscles for tolerating uncertainty, thus making it easier to sit with uncertainty in the future.
Finally, we learn that we don’t have to let anxiety boss us around anymore, which can bring about a tremendous boost in our sense of mastery and competence.
Ready to let go of your struggle with anxiety?
Reach out today to schedule a free consultation call and learn more about exposure therapy.
Contact MeIn addition to exposure-based treatments, I also provide Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills training and especially enjoy working with parents to help them better regulate their own emotions using what I call Emotion-Savvy Parenting.
DBT is an evidence-based, cognitive behavioral treatment that was designed for individuals who have difficulty managing their emotions.
Emotion-Savvy Parenting is a science-informed approach comprised of DBT skills adapted for parents. It aims to lighten the heavy load of parenthood by empowering parents to let their values—rather than unwanted emotions—guide their behaviors.
The skills training portion of DBT consists of skills in the following:
Mindfulness
Mindfulness skills help us be more fully aware and present in the here and now.
Emotion Regulation
Emotion regulation skills decrease our vulnerability to painful emotions and help us change unwanted emotions.
Distress Tolerance
Distress tolerance skills enable us to sit with intense, uncomfortable emotions when these can’t be changed.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Interpersonal skills help us build and maintain healthier relationships.
Please note that I currently offer DBT skills training within the context of individual therapy only. This approach differs from comprehensive DBT, which includes weekly individual therapy, weekly group skills training, weekly therapist consultation team meetings, and 24/7 phone coaching. While one-on-one DBT skills training can be very helpful for many individuals, it may not be a high enough level of care for others. Accordingly, I am happy to provide those who require full DBT, as designed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, with referrals to more comprehensive DBT treatment programs near them.