Teens with social anxiety unite! In this paid treatment group, teens will support each other in developing cognitive behavioral skills to combat social anxiety. This workshop will be interactive and fun. Note: If you are an adult with social anxiety, there's a group...
Flu season will be quickly upon us and with it comes an unfortunate increase in the likelihood of experiencing fevers, coughs, runny noses, vomiting, and the like. Although no one enjoys being sick, this time of year poses particular challenges for individuals...
For anyone new to exposure-based therapy, such as exposure and response prevention (ERP), there is often much anticipatory anxiety about starting treatment. "What is it? What will it be like? How bad will it be? Can I handle it? Will I be forced to do things I'm...
Question: I have sensorimotor OCD, and I’m suffering from conscious swallowing. My main fear is that I'll choke or swallow my own saliva whenever I'm speaking or singing. Any tips for how to tackle this fear via exposure and response prevention (ERP)? Great question....
Anxiety Principle of the Day: Non-Avoidance is not equivalent to exposure. Although exposure is predicated upon the purposeful non-avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli, non-avoidance of anxiety triggers is not equivalent to exposure. What is non-avoidance? I liken...
Many people have an incomplete understanding of exposure therapy... ...be it exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD, intentional mistake practice for social anxiety, or interoceptive exposures for panic disorder... This is true for exposure newbies, seasoned...
Reader Question: For the past year, I have been dealing with OCD-related sensorimotor obsessions focused on swallowing. My symptoms started during a class discussion in which I noticed myself swallow. Since then, whenever I am in a lecture or quiet place surrounded by...
Let's dispel a common misconception about agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is not a fear of the outdoors. Many people mistakenly believe this myth, due to the word's Latin roots. Because agoraphobia can be broken down into the roots agora ("marketplace") and phobia ("fear...
Everyone I know has, at some point, had to deal with the monster under the bed. Some do it with grace. Others falter. I've always been clumsy. I can vividly recall many terrified nights from my childhood, when I would lie rigidly in my bed, utterly paralyzed by fear....
When I was a kid, one form of mischief that was briefly popular in my neighborhood was crank calling strangers. Usually, the bravest kid in the group would pick up the phone, and with the encouragement of all the other kids in the room, would dial a random telephone...
With the summer quickly fading to black and the academic year looming largely, we will soon be entering the season of school refusal. When I use the term "school refusal," I'm not talking about that once-in-a-blue-moon occasion when a child forgets about an important...
Looking for ways to overcome social anxiety or OCD-related perfectionism? At the end of this post, you'll find some strategies I use to help individuals in South Florida (Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, & Miami) overcome their anxiety....
