Anxiety therapists in Devils Lake, North Dakota ND
Anxiety or Fears
Jayson L. Mystkowski
Psychologist, Ph.D., ABPP
While Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) is highly effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders (e.g., Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), clinicians do see some “return of fear,” or partial relapse, in some patients due to a variety of factors. Over the past two decades, treatment researchers, with whom Dr. Jayson Mystkowski had the pleasure of working with at UCLA for over 10 years, have studied “return of fear” and discovered some key variables that may optimize the effects of learning during CBT for anxiety disorders (Craske et al., 2008).
First, evidence suggests that focusing on tolerating fear versus eliminating fear yields better clinical outcomes in the long term. Namely, teaching clients that fear and anxiety are normal feelings, rather than attempting to “down-regulate” such feelings all the time, is more realistic and seems to engender “hardier” clients. Second, helping clients to generate an expectancy that “scary things will not happen,” is very powerful. To do this, it is important for clinicians to create more complex exposure exercises (i.e., tasks in which a client confronts a stimulus of which they are afraid), using multiple feared stimuli instead of one at a time. Then, the lack of a feared outcome becomes particularly surprising and memorable for a client and fear reduction is more potent. Third, increasing the accessibility and retrievability of non-fear memories learned during treatment are powerful factors in mitigating against a return of fear. Craske and colleagues demonstrated that exposure to variations of a feared stimulus, using a random schedule across multiple contexts or situations, is more effective than exposure to the same stimulus, on a predictable schedule, in an unchanging environment. The former paradigm, it is argued, creates stronger non-fear memories that are easier for a client to access when subsequently confronting feared objects or situations outside of the therapy context, than the later scenario.
In sum, clinicians have long been aware that some fear or anxiety returns following very successful CBT treatment. As mentioned above, there are some clear, empirically supported ways to modify the therapy we provide to further help clients generalize the gains made in therapy sessions to the real world.
20 Years Experience
Anxiety or Fears
Jonathan Schmalz
Psychologist, PhD, HSP-P
Anxiety looks a little different in all of us and finds its foothold based on a variety of factors: genetics, early experiences, current stressors, and social discomfort, to name a few. For some people it is utterly debilitating in one or more domains of life and for others it’s an unpleasant refrigerator hum that dampens an otherwise well-lived life.
Therapy can help you both regulate the intensity of anxiety and make a pivot in how you respond to its presence, making way for less struggle and more opportunities for choosing how you want to live.
15 Years Experience
Anxiety or Fears
Abby Cobey
Psychologist, PsyD
A lot of us deal with fears and anxiety. I like to think of fear as the emotion and anxiety as the disorder of the emotion out of control. Stress is mixed in here too. It can be hard to treat anxiety and fear because ultimately you'll have to face that which you are afraid of and that's uncomfortable. But we can take steps to build your confidence in facing the challenge ahead.
13 Years Experience
Anxiety or Fears
Ms. Gorete Rodrigues
Therapist, Certified Counsellor
Unconventional approach with over 90% success rate.
14 Years Experience
Anxiety or Fears
Dawn Johnson
Psychologist, PsyD
If you feel especially anxious, I may be a good fit for you. My therapy style is collaborative, warm, and nonjudgmental, with room for humor. Together, we will work to improve your symptoms, gain a deeper understanding of your concerns and bring about lasting change.
6 Years Experience