Anxiety Therapy
Evidence-Based Anxiety Therapy in New York City
Anxiety can be overwhelming. It can also be a force for positive change. If you are struggling with persistent worry, racing thoughts, or overwhelming stress, you are not alone. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health concerns, and effective treatment is available. Dr. Charissa Chamorro specializes in evidence-based treatment for anxiety and provides anxiety therapy for adults in New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Her approach helps people regain a sense of balance and control while developing a deeper understanding of the patterns that keep anxiety going. Through this process, clients often discover how some of the very qualities linked to their anxiety, like sensitivity, awareness, and determination, can also become strengths.
Anxiety Treatment That Works.
Dr. Charissa Chamorro is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her practice is dedicated to helping people learn to manage their anxiety, connect with their strengths, and lead more balanced and fulfilling lives. She is recognized for her expertise in anxiety treatment, and her insights have been featured in numerous leading media publications, including Parents, Real Simple, HuffPost, Live Science, Cubby, Vox, and Time Magazine. In addition to her expertise in anxiety treatment, she also has specialized training in women’s mental health issues across the lifespan. She combines her compassionate approach with scientifically supported interventions including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help people develop a range of coping strategies that can be used for a lifetime.
Signs You May Be Experiencing an Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety can affect both the mind and body. Many people describe feeling as though their thoughts are constantly racing or that their mind is stuck in a loop of worrying about potential problems.
Common experiences include persistent worry, difficulty relaxing, trouble sleeping, muscle tension, and feeling on edge. Some individuals notice that anxiety leads them to repeatedly analyze situations, seek reassurance, or avoid circumstances that feel uncertain or overwhelming.
Over time, these patterns can become exhausting. Anxiety may begin to interfere with work, relationships, or the ability to enjoy daily life. If anxiety is interfering with your quality of life, treatment can help.
Types of Anxiety Disorders Treated in Therapy
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental health conditions characterized by excessive and persistent worry or fear. They can significantly impact daily life and well-being. There are several types of anxiety disorders. Below is a list of anxiety disorders that Dr. Chamorro specializes in treating.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a wide range of everyday concerns, such as health, work, relationships, and finances. Individuals with GAD often find it challenging to control their worry, and experience restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances. The anxiety and worry are disproportionate to the actual situation and can significantly interfere with daily functioning.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by an intense and persistent fear of social situations where individuals are exposed to possible scrutiny or evaluation by others. People with social anxiety may fear public speaking, meeting new people, or participating in social gatherings. The fear is often accompanied by physical symptoms like blushing, sweating, trembling, and difficulty speaking. Avoidance of social situations and a strong desire to be inconspicuous are common features of social anxiety. Dr. Chamorro is a recognized expert in social anxiety treatment, and her insights have been featured in Huffpost, Mount Sinai Today, and Time Magazine. She works closely with her patients to develop an effective treatment plan to target social anxiety symptoms and improve feelings of connection and well-being.
Listen to Dr. Chamorro discuss social anxiety and treatments that work on Mount Sinai’s Road to Resilience Podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Health Anxiety
Health anxiety involves persistent worry about having a serious illness despite medical reassurance. Individuals may find themselves frequently checking symptoms, searching online for medical explanations, or monitoring bodily sensations.
Treatment helps individuals develop a different relationship with uncertainty about health while reducing reassurance-seeking patterns that can unintentionally reinforce anxiety.
Panic Disorder
Panic Disorder involves recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden surges of intense fear or discomfort that peak within minutes. During a panic attack, individuals may experience symptoms such as a rapid heartbeat, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, sweating, and a fear of losing control or dying. Panic Disorder is often accompanied by anticipatory anxiety, as individuals become fearful of experiencing future panic attacks.
Specific Phobias
Specific Phobias involve an intense and irrational fear of specific objects, situations, or activities. Common phobias include heights, spiders, flying, needles, or enclosed spaces. When confronted with the feared object or experience, individuals may experience immediate and intense anxiety or panic attacks. They often go to great lengths to avoid encountering the feared object or situation, which can significantly impact their daily lives.
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Separation anxiety disorder is excessive fear and distress when separated from attachment figures or familiar environments, primarily seen in children. It involves worries, physical symptoms, and reluctance to be apart.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is a fear of situations where escape might be difficult or embarrassing, leading to avoidance of crowded places or public transportation. It causes isolation and limits activities.
Selective Mutism
Selective Mutism is a childhood anxiety disorder where a child consistently refuses to speak in specific social situations despite being capable. It stems from fear of judgment and can impact development.
What are some symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety disorders can manifest in various ways, including physical symptoms (e.g., rapid heartbeat, sweating), emotional symptoms (e.g., excessive worry, irritability), and cognitive symptoms (e.g., racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating).
What causes an anxiety disorder?
While the exact causes of anxiety disorders are not fully understood, they can result from a combination of genetic, environmental, and neurochemical factors. Research shows that evidence-based treatments such as CBT can help improve anxiety and overall quality of life.
Evidence-Based Treatments for Anxiety
Dr. Chamorro’s work is grounded in psychological treatments that have been extensively studied and shown to be effective for anxiety disorders.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Anxiety
Anxiety can impact every aspect of your life including sleep, relationships, and work and school performance. Fortunately, there are treatments that are highly effective in treating anxiety and the issues impacted by anxiety. CBT is an evidence-based therapy that focuses on understanding one’s thoughts and beliefs and challenging the negative thought patterns that fuel anxiety. By increasing awareness of these thought patterns, and identifying and replacing unhelpful thoughts with more helpful and constructive ones, individuals can gain greater control over their anxiety. Dr. Chamorro is a highly skilled anxiety therapist who integrates these approaches with warmth, compassion, and humor. She guides her patients in developing effective coping strategies and offers practical techniques to manage anxiety symptoms and develop greater resilience under stress.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT encourages individuals to accept their thoughts and feelings without judgment, while simultaneously committing to actions aligned with their personal values. Through ACT, patients learn to live in the present moment, fostering self-compassion and embracing their emotions rather than struggling against them. Dr. Chamorro uses ACT techniques to empower her patients to identify their values and use them as inspiration and motivation to move forward, even in the presence of stress and anxiety.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT's comprehensive approach to anxiety and emotion regulation is rooted in developing a skill set that can be applied to various life situations. By integrating mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and cognitive restructuring, individuals can enhance their ability to manage anxiety, reduce emotional reactivity, and build a life worth living.
Mindfulness for Anxiety
Mindfulness practices enable people to develop a greater awareness of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. This helps create a sense of present-moment awareness and allows individuals to respond to their anxiety in a more balanced and non-reactive manner. Mindfulness serves as a powerful tool to increase self-compassion, reduce stress, and foster resilience. Dr. Chamorro teaches mindfulness techniques that can be incorporated into daily life, providing a foundation for sustained well-being.
Who Seeks Anxiety Therapy
People seek anxiety therapy for many reasons. Some individuals struggle with persistent worry about work, relationships, or health, while others experience anxiety related to parenting responsibilities or major life transitions. Dr. Chamorro also has specialized expertise in women’s mental health and frequently works with women experiencing anxiety related to careers, relationships, parenting, and postpartum changes. Learn more about therapy for women experiencing anxiety in New York City.
Specialized Therapy for Anxiety in New York
Dr. Charissa Chamorro is a highly skilled anxiety therapist who provides specialized therapy for individuals in New York City, New Jersey, and Westchester, as well as all 36 PSYPACT-participating states. Dr. Chamorro is recognized for her expertise in anxiety treatment, and her insights have been featured in leading media publications, including Parents, Real Simple, HuffPost, Live Science, Cubby, Vox, and Time Magazine. She provides compassionate and evidence-based care tailored to every stage of life. She works with each individual to determine the factors causing and maintaining anxiety, and collaborates with them to develop an effective treatment approach that will address anxiety and facilitate improved coping and overall well-being.
Reach out today to learn more about how treatment can help.
