Cognitive Therapy for Anxiety



Talk to An Experienced Cognitive Therapist

Anxiety is especially common during particularly difficult times -- a divorce, a death, a change at work. And it’s okay to be worried at times. We all do. And that’s a good thing because when we’re anxious, we are much more tuned into possible dangers--this can help us to protect ourselves and the ones we love. A moderate level anxiety can also motivate us to cope with stressful work and social situations.


anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, phobia, ptsd, cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, systemmatic densensitization, flooding, exposure, hypnotherapy, thought stopping, cognitive restructuring, breathing, relaxation therapy, assertiveness training
Anxiety can also be a bad thing. When it is excessive and unrealistic--well beyond what is appropriate for a situation--it can disrupt your daily life. If that’s going on, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder that requires professional attention. The symptoms of anxiety can be very unpleasant and difficult to tolerate. Fortunately, effective treatments are available. Psychotherapy and medicine can help relieve symptoms.

Dr. Garamoni specializes in treating anxiety, panic, phobias, and trauma with Cognitive Therapy. He has been assessing and treating anxious clients since 1983. Research demonstrates that most people get relief from anxiety with Cognitive Therapy. This treatment does not give an immediate “fix,” but usually provides relief within several weeks--without the side-effects of medication. People can learn techniques for calming their anxiety and taking back their lives.



FAQs Cognitive Therapy (click here)


Book Recommendations: Generalized Anxiety, Panic, Phobias, PTSD, Social Anxiety

Therapists commonly recommend the The Feeling Good Handbook to their clients. This book is a follow-up to Dr. Burns’ classic, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. I recommend the Handbook because it provides help on a broader range of topics. Dr. Burns gives a clearly written summary of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). He provides written exercises to help you understand the connections between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in stressful situations. He then helps you gain control of the thoughts and behaviors that contribute to depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems.

I’ve been using this book in therapy with my clients for years with good results. Warning: You can’t just sit back and read this book passively. You absolutely have to do the exercises to benefit from reading this book. And it is best to have the one-on-one guidance of a licensed professional therapist on how to best use this book in your unique set of circumstances. Professional feedback really helps you acquire skill in monitoring and managing your moods.

Another warning: This is not bedtime reading material. I remember one of my clients had terrible insomnia. I asked him about his nightly routine before going to sleep. He told me he had a stack of self-help books on his bed stand and randomly picked one up to read before going to sleep. By doing this every night, he was seeing how many problems he had and what he could and should do to fix these problems. He didn’t know where to start. He felt overwhelmed by all the things he should do and how little he was really doing. He was unwittingly inducing anxiety, guilt, and demoralization on a nightly basis. No wonder he couldn’t get to sleep! I advised him to put his self-help books in a closet and work with me on mastering one skill at a time. His insomnia soon lifted and he recovered from his depression. There is lesson to be learned here for anyone into these “self-hell” books.















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