Anxiety and fear are emotions that we all experience from time to time . They are reactions that in their right measure and depending on the situation in which they are triggered, help us to adapt more efficiently to the environment. The problem is that on many occasions the intensity, frequency and duration of these emotions affect one or several areas of our life.

Usually people with anxiety problems suffer a lot and feel desperate. What they usually do not know is that psychological treatment for these problems is tremendously effective in a relatively short time and relapses are minimal.

Why do anxiety and fear become a problem?

The main cause of the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders is the difficulty of the sufferer to regulate this type of emotions. In general, the person does not have cognitive, emotional and behavioral tools to cope with the unpleasant experience of feeling these dysfunctional states.

The problem is that, far from going into spontaneous remission, these disorders tend to get worse and worse over time if the appropriate remedy is not put in place, since the anxiety and fear responses tend to become more and more widespread in more areas and situations , which in the end means a significant deterioration in the life of the person suffering from them.

What is the treatment of choice for anxiety disorders?

Well established and proven treatments for panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, simple phobias, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are cognitive-behavioral , and have an efficacy rate of between 69% and 85% at 6 months after treatment (Ellard et al. 2010).

The problem is that most people who suffer from this type of problem only, at best, access primary care treatment (family doctor) (Kovess-Masfety et al., 2007) in which they are treated with SSRI antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs. The effectiveness rate of this type of intervention is only 27.4% according to data from the recent PsicAP study.

That is, the psychological treatment is three times more effective than the typical pharmacological treatment prescribed from primary care.

Working in psychotherapy

How do we work from the Psychological Cabinet in Madrid In Mental Balance with people who suffer from anxiety related problems?

In our case, we specialize in emotion management and mood and anxiety issues. We work to evaluate and detect the variables that are involved in the initiation and maintenance of the problem. In this way we can have a personalized and global vision of the case that allows us to intervene in a much more precise way.

We use the procedures that have proven to be most effective in evaluating people who suffer from this type of problem.

Once the evaluation has been made, we move on to the formulation and return of information to the patient . At this stage, we develop a hypothesis of the onset and maintenance of the problem and share it with our client.

We use current scientifically proven models that better explain the case in order to design a treatment plan adapted to the specific needs of each person who asks for our help.

The intervention in the patient

Once the goals of the therapy have been established, we move on to the treatment stage, in which we train the client in the techniques needed to modify the problematic variables that we have detected in the evaluation.

Our priority is always the improvement of the client, which moves us to use the procedures that have proven to work in thousands of people around the world. Our professionals are in constant training, which makes us keep up to date with the latest research and, in short, obtain very satisfactory results with the people who come to our office.

Furthermore, what makes us different is that we focus psychological intervention on the altered emotional processes , instead of focusing on the symptom.

This revolutionary way of dealing with anxiety cases helps us to get better results and have a very high efficiency rate for anxiety problems.

Furthermore, in this way, we stone the client in such a way that he increases his level of self-knowledge and has a much more objective view of how his emotional reactions work, which allows him to use the techniques we are training in to improve not only his anxiety symptoms but all areas of his life.

How long does therapy for anxiety problems last?

The interventions that we propose are of a brief nature , although everything depends on many variables. Normally, more motivated clients tend to achieve better results in less time, but factors such as the duration of the problem, the existence of other emotional disorders or the involvement in therapy are crucial when predicting both the duration and the therapeutic success.

Normally, if there are not too many complications, the average is 10-12 sessions on a weekly basis at the beginning, until the case has been well evaluated and the person has been trained in the techniques necessary for emotional management. Later, when the improvement begins, the sessions are normally spaced out into fortnightly or monthly periods .

In our cabinet we actively fight the old myth that you have to be going to the psychologist for years, since we usually achieve significant improvement in much less time.

How can I make an appointment at your cabinet?

We only attend by appointment, as we need to prepare thoroughly each case in order to provide the best service. Therefore, to book an appointment at our centre, you only have to call us or leave your contact details on the web so that we can contact you.

You can find all the information about our services by clicking here.

Bibliographic references:

  • Ellard, K. K., Fairholme, C. P., Boisseau, C. L., Farchione, T. J., & Barlow, D. H. (2010). Unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: Protocol development and initial outcome data. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17(1), 88-101.
  • Kovess-Masfety, V., Alonso, J., Brugha, T. S., Angermeyer, M. C., Haro, J. M., & Sevilla-Dedieu, C. (2007). Differences in lifetime use of services for mental health problems in six European countries. Psychiatric Services, 58(2), 213-220.