Anxiety Therapist San Diego CA

• Exposure Response Prevention (ERP): Particularly effective for obsessive-compulsive disorder, ERP involves gradually exposing clients to fear-inducing objects or ideas to help them learn to manage their anxiety without resorting to compulsive behaviors.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT focuses on acceptance of uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, and commitment to actions that align with personal values. It helps clients develop psychological flexibility and resilience in the face of anxiety.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This is a fundamental strategy where we work with clients to identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to anxiety.
• Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE): This approach involves working with parents to provide support and guidance in helping children navigate their anxiety. It focuses on creating a nurturing environment that encourages emotional expression, teaches coping skills, and fosters a sense of security and confidence in managing anxiety through parental boundary setting.

While this involves different strategies in each individual situation, we often will recommend the following strategies:

• Reduce Accommodations: So often, parents of highly anxious children will do a lot to help reduce their exposure to anxiety provoking situations. And for good reason, children with anxiety can have meltdowns, become inconsolable, and really struggle! However, parental accommodations often teach the child that they are right to fear the situation they are faced with, rather than helping them understand that anxiety needs to be decoded to determine when it is helpful or not helpful. Essentially, parents can help their child learn when to push through the fear and when it is best not to!
• Collaborative Care: At Thrive, we always work in collaboration with our clients, rather than being in charge of their treatment. We involve our clients in developing their treatment plans with goals they feel are important and also achievable.
• Increase Understanding: Our goal is to help our clients understand themselves and their symptoms better, so that they are more equipped to manage them. It is also to help their loved ones understand what kind of support is helpful so that families connect more effectively with each other.