WE ARE DEVOTED TO THE SUCCESS, CREATIVITY AND HAPPINESS OF MEN AND WOMEN
Mental health is widely stigmatized and misunderstood, which can make accurate diagnosis and quality care inaccessible for many. At Alter Behavioral Health, our mission is to make excellent mental health care accessible to adults in need throughout Orange County. We are a residential behavior health treatment program that specializes in treating primary mental health and co-occurring disorders and specialize in offering autism-informed care.
In all cases, we apply a modern understanding of mental health that emphasizes treating the condition as well as the person.
Anxiety Disorders
While many of the 40 million American adults who suffer from anxiety have a stand-alone disorder, many others experience it as a comorbid condition. For instance, autistic adults suffer from anxiety at a rate far above the general population. Likewise, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many other conditions typically involve anxious symptoms. While anxiety itself is a fairly consistent symptom, effective treatment must take both the symptom and the root cause into account.
How Alter Behavioral Therapy Treats Anxiety
The Alter Behavioral Health team specializes in a holistic approach to mental health. This broad-ranging expertise enables accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.
Diagnosis
Before moving forward with a treatment regimen, it’s important to identify the root cause of the anxiety. In isolation, anxiety is sometimes effectively treated by therapy. In some cases of more severe or comorbid anxiety, medication can be necessary. Either way, understanding your ailment is the first step to overcoming it and enjoying your best life.
Medication
Everyone has their own unique needs and experience of anxiety. While one component of anxiety is thought patterns, behavior, and experiences, the other component is neurological. Not everyone will need or want medication to treat their anxiety, but others will. At Alter Behavioral Health, the unique needs and wishes of every patient is something of importance that deserves respect.
Alter Behavioral Health also incorporates the latest anxiolytic drugs in ensuring the most effective treatments with minimal risks and side effects. Depending on your specific case, we’ll strive to identify the ideal medication option and correct dosage.
Therapy Options
A variety of types of therapy have proven effective in treating different types of anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy has a proven record in achieving positive outcomes for those who suffer from anxiety. In the course of CBT, the focus is on learned patterns of thought and behavior. Negative self-talk, catastrophizing, and ineffective behavior are common results of painful or traumatic experiences that then produce anxiety. By identifying and challenging these patterns, many people are able to find relief and enjoy an improved quality of life.
Other therapies that help treat anxiety are typically subsets of CBT. For instance, exposure therapy emphasizes a gradual, controlled approach of facing anxiety head-on. This might consist of imagining the anxiety-inducing situation, confronting it in real-life, or a combination. Depending on the problem, virtual-reality might also be an option. Virtual reality simulations of exposure therapy have proven particularly effective in helping veterans who suffer from PTSD-induced anxiety.
Whether you’re seeking diagnosis or care for an existing diagnosis, Alter Behavioral Health is the place for you or your loved one.
Cambridge Mental Health Management LLC Alter Mental Health – Irvine
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