How to Find an Anxiety Therapist Near You

Don’t live close to us at Anxiety Treatment Center of Denver?
Use this guide to learn what to look for when trying to find an anxiety therapist near you.

To find an anxiety therapist, it can be helpful to first understand some background information about anxiety, anxiety symptoms, and how anxiety is treated. This guide will provide you the basics on anxiety, anxiety treatment, and prepare you to find a qualified anxiety therapist.

Here at Anxiety Treatment Center of Denver, we offer evidence-based treatments for anxiety in the Denver Tech Center, in Centennial, CO. If you’re in our area, contact us to learn more about our approach to addressing anxiety.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is an emotional issue related to our experience of fear. Fear itself is a normal human reaction. It is a natural response to anticipating a potential danger or threat in the environment, whether physical or emotional. Fear is good! It helps us respond to danger quickly by preparing the body to run, or fight when needed.

Anxiety is a condition where that fear signal becomes too loud, and gets activated too early and too often. For some people, fear becomes such a frequent and persistent emotional state that it can lead to an anxiety disorder. The difference between an emotion and a clinical diagnosis has a lot to do with duration and severity. This means that the fears and worries are not temporary, and often excessive or about unlikely events. They create a disruption in our daily tasks and quality of life, which generally gets worse over time.

Clinical anxiety, as defined by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5), is an excessive worry that has occurred for at least 6 months and can center around a variety of events, activities or topics. This worry is hard to control and is associated with a myriad of symptoms, both cognitive and somatic. It is often characterized by persistent non-specific feelings of worry and dread. This includes: constant feelings of restlessness, or “being on edge”; difficulties with concentration and focus; irritability; overall tension and sleep disturbances; somatic symptoms, such as tremors, palpitations, dizziness, headaches and nausea; and a sense of powerlessness or helplessness that can make a person feel like they “lack control”.

Individuals experiencing an anxiety disorder tend to see a decline in their day to day functioning, and it can severely impact their ability to perform common tasks. This usually translates to an area of their lives being noticeably impaired. Some examples of areas that can be affected are work, school, social situations and interpersonal relationships.

Anxiety is the Most Prevalent Mental Illness in the United States

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern in the United States. They affect about 19 million people, which roughly equates to 13% of the population. These anxiety disorders encompass those suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (PD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and specific phobias.

When to See A Mental Health Professional About Your Anxiety

When should you see a mental health professional about your anxiety? The following symptoms provide a guide. If you’ve experienced any of these problems for two weeks or longer and they have interfered with your ability to do work, socialize or take care of things at home, consider consulting with a professional.

Not being able to stop worrying, despite your best efforts
Having trouble relaxing
Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
Becoming easily annoyed, irritable, argumentative or aggressive
Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen
Feeling constantly nervous or on edge
Experiencing distressing somatic symptoms such as: difficulty falling or staying asleep, headaches, sweating, palpitations, chest tightness, gastrointestinal problems
Having difficulty completing everyday activities, with an inability to concentrate or focus
Panic attacks
Intrusive, distressing thoughts or images

What are the different anxiety disorders?

As previously mentioned, the DSM classifies anxiety into different disorders defined by their symptoms.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

GAD is characterized by a persistent and excessive worry that interferes with daily activities. This often accompanied by somatic symptoms, such as muscle tension, sleep disturbances, fatigue, inability to focus and restlessness.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder centers around frequently experiencing panic attacks. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, uncontrollable shaking, nausea, feeling detached from reality, fear of losing control, fear of dying, chills, numbness and feelings of choking. Sometimes these symptoms lead people to believe they are experiencing a medical emergency. Panic attacks can occur after being triggered by something, or seemingly at random.

Phobias, Specific Phobia

A type of anxiety disorder that is marked by a persistent and overwhelming fear towards an object or a situation.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Severe anxiety that is related to social situations. Social anxiety disorder involves fears of being judged or evaluated, extreme self-consciousness, avoidance of social environments, and fear of rejection.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a combination of recurrent, intrusive, often upsetting thoughts with repetitive compulsive behaviors. These thoughts and behaviors create great distress and impair quality of life.

What does an anxiety therapist do?

Methods and techniques in therapy can vary according to the type of anxiety treatment, but some common components used in anxiety treatments that you could expect are:

Psycho-education about anxiety disorders and their causes.
Exposure techniques, designed to desensitize one to anxiety-causing situations.
Cognitive interventions, which address your thought patterns which can lead to anxiety.
Behavioral interventions, which address the behaviors sustaining anxiety.
Mindfulness techniques, to increase emotional awareness and ground oneself in the present.
Relaxation techniques, to reduce baseline anxiety.
Distress tolerance techniques, to quickly reduce intense emotions.

Most effective anxiety treatment will also include homework, where the therapist assigns skills practice or exposure sessions to be completed outside of the therapy session, in order to lead to generalization of skills into your everyday life.

How often should you see a therapist?

Most commonly, therapy involves 45-60 minute sessions on a weekly basis. Length of treatment is determined by a variety of factors, such as the type of therapy, severity of the disorder, level of impairment, and progress made in therapy. For example, a course of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety will generally last 10-24 weeks.

What is the best therapy for anxiety?

A variety of anxiety treatments and interventions have been proven effective to manage and overcome anxiety. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), usually with some form of exposure techniques, is perhaps the form of anxiety treatment best supported by research. However, there are many effective anxiety treatment methods, shown to have high rates of success in reducing and eliminating symptoms. Overall, most forms of anxiety are considered to be very treatable.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for Anxiety

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that is considered highly effective in treating anxiety. CBT is an evidence-based approach that focuses on identifying and challenging thoughts and behaviors supporting anxiety. It is generally used with exposure exercises, where clients are asked to use their new skills in increasingly anxiety-provoking situations, leading to a gradual reduction in anxiety.

Exposure Therapy for Anxiety

As the name suggests, exposure therapy focuses on “exposing” clients to their fears. This is a method of reducing sensitivity to a certain stimulus via a gradual process of exposure. This helps clients learn those feared situations are not actually dangerous, leading to the emotional response eventually stopping. These exercises can be centered around objects, places, thoughts or memories.

Choosing an Anxiety Therapist

Most effective anxiety treatments are based on a collaborative relationship between the client and the therapist. Being comfortable and having a good rapport with one’s therapist are important components for success. Making sure you feel at ease can help you determine whether you have found a good therapeutic match. It is also ok to try out more than one therapist initially if these elements are not there.

Another important factor to consider is a potential therapist’s credentials and experience. Always ensure that your therapist possesses the expertise needed to assess, diagnose and treat the issue at hand in an effective way. Make sure you find someone experienced in what you’re dealing with.

When you schedule an initial call or consultation appointment, write down some questions or qualities that you're looking for. Remember that an initial call or appointment is not a commitment to stay in treatment with someone.

How To Find An Anxiety Therapist

Good places to start include the American Psychological Association’s Psychologist Locator, or the Find a Therapist tool from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

If you’re located in the Denver area, you can contact us here at ATC-Denver to learn more about our anxiety treatment program options.

What to look for in an anxiety therapist

In addition to the resources posted above, these guidelines can help you make an informed decision.

It is important to remember that there are different types of mental health providers who can possess different background and specialities. For example, psychologists hold a doctoral degree (PhD or PsyD) and are trained to evaluate, test and provide group and individual therapy. There are also various other types of counselors and therapists, such as licensed professional counselors (LPC), and licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT). Lastly, therapy can also be practiced by licensed clinical social workers (LCSW)- the most common credential held by therapists in the US. Always corroborate that your therapist is properly trained and holds an active license in your state of residency.

It is always best to look for a therapist committed to evidence-based therapy methods. Therapies that are considered “evidence-based approaches” are those that have undergone extensive research, and where the evidence has indicated effectiveness in treating specific disorders by actually delivering measurable results, decreasing symptoms and increasing quality of life. Therapists tend to specialize in a particular approach, or “orientation.” Ask your therapist about the type of intervention they utilize, and whether this approach is considered an evidence-based practice and effective in treating anxiety.

For more information on which therapies are considered evidence-based, visit the American Psychological Association’s Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) list of evidence-based treatments.

What questions should I ask a potential anxiety therapist?

Some good questions to ask your therapist or psychologist during your initial consultation might include:

What are your credentials/license?
How long have you been practicing?
What are your areas of expertise?
What is your experience helping people with these types of problems? (ie. anxiety, describe your areas of struggle)
What type of intervention do you use? Is it an evidence-based practice? And, has it been proven effective for my particular issue?
What are your fees?
How will progress be assessed?