CBT for Anxiety & OCD

Therapy for Anxiety and OCD

based on the latest brain and behavior research

The therapists at Bucks County Anxiety Center provide Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), and other science-backed methods to help teens (ages 14 and up) and adults with anxiety due to:

• OCD
• Anxiety Disorders (e.g., phobias, panic attacks)
• ADHD
• Sensory Processing Disorder
• Chronic illness
• Life events (e.g., birth, death, loss, work)
• Caregiver stress
  
  

The therapists here also work on issues that come along with anxiety and OCD like:

• Depression
• Overspending
• Burn out at home and at work
• Health issues (e.g., heart palpitations, headaches, muscle pain)
• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Tension at home
• Fights with friends, loved ones, and/or colleagues
• Trouble concentrating
• Poor performance at school or work
  

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What you can expect

During your first 3-4 sessions, and during your treatment, your therapist will get to know you while collecting information on factors that will affect your success like:

• How do you solve problems?
• What matters to you? What do you value?
• When stressed, do you binge on carbs and Neflix to avoid the issue or start yelling and insulting people?
• What keeps you going during tough times?
• How do you stay focused when you feel like giving up?
• What are some of the core beliefs you have about yourself and your life?
• When you're stressed or angry, do you pull back or seek reassurance?
• How do you bounce back after a setback?
• Do you let yourself off the hook for mistakes or relentlessly bash yourself?
• What are your relationships like? Do they make life better or do they bring you down?

While you’re working with your therapist, you'll get on-going feedback regarding these factors.  This way you can understand how they impact your choices and behaviors.

You can then make different decisions that support your health and success.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Once you start the therapy process, your therapist will teach you new tools and techniques for dealing with thoughts that are upsetting and uncomfortable. You’ll start practicing these skills right away. 

You and your therapist decide together what you'll work on. The goal is to help you feel empowered and involved from the beginning.  The work happens at a pace you can handle. 

Some of the CBT techniques you’ll learn include: 

• Identifying negative thoughts and beliefs and reframing them to change how you feel.
• Journaling and other positive ways to express feelings.
• Trying new responses that make you feel more confident.
• Using new mindsets to think differently about yourself and challenges you face.
• Making healthy decisions with new information. 
• Relaxation and stress relief exercises to help break the fight-or-flight cycle. 

When your therapist combines CBT with your specific needs, you can learn to deal with complications, setbacks, and flare-ups that are a usual part of learning to manage anxiety and/or OCD.

With time, you’ll notice that you can use these new CBT skills across different areas of your life. They’ll make it easier to tackle challenges and bounce back. 

Can CBT Help With Anxiety?

The goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety are to help you: 

• Identify the thoughts and beliefs that are hurtful and scary.
• Replace hurtful thoughts with more realistic and/or positive ones. 
• Feel in control of your thoughts and responses. 
• Make better choices.

As a result, you'll feel happier and healthier. Your concentration, motivation, relationships, sleep, and health will get better.

This Anxiety 101 blog post can help you learn more about anxiety and how to treat it. 

What is Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)?

Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy used to treat OCD.  ERP is considered the best treatment for OCD.

ERP will help you learn how to manage the scary, sad, or hurtful thoughts that make you feel crazy (obsessions). 

Once you learn to manage these obsessions, you can stop the thoughts, behaviors, reassurance-seeking, and research you need to do to make them go away (rituals/compulsions).

It’s important to work with someone who is highly trained and experienced in ERP and treating OCD. Treating OCD the same as other anxiety disorders can make your symptoms worse. 

This OCD 101 blog post can help you learn more about OCD, ERP, and how to manage obsessions and rituals.

CBT specialists can help you stay better for longer

If you don’t understand your thoughts, feelings, responses, and choices, your chances of recovering from a set back are slim to none.

You’ll go back to your automatic responses the next time you have to deal with a stressful situation or serious life challenge.

A CBT specialist can help you develop the tools and mindsets to conquer depression, anxiety, and OCD.

The therapists at the Center provide cognitive behavioral therapy and ERP in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, as well as certain states (NY, CA) and countries.

Each therapist decided whether to provide services in person or by teletherapy.  Please let us know if you prefer to work with a therpist who provides services in person and/or virtually.

Schedule your appointment today!