Specialties
Anxiety Disorders
Everyone experiences anxiety, worry, and fear occasionally. However, if these feelings are very frequent, seemingly uncontrollable, or out of proportion to the situation, or if your symptoms are interfering with your day-to-day life, then you might have an anxiety disorder. The good news is that anxiety does not have to rule your life. Here are some of the anxiety disorders we treat:
- Generalized anxiety disorder: frequent, difficult-to-control worries about a wide range of situations, along with symptoms like fatigue and irritability
- Panic disorder: recurrent unexpected panic attacks (sudden rushes of physical/mental symptoms), followed by fear of, or attempts to avoid, future attacks
- Agoraphobia: fear and avoidance of situations (e.g., public transportation, open spaces, stores, crowds) in which it might be difficult to escape or get help in the case of panic or other symptoms
- Specific phobia: fear and avoidance of specific situations, animals, objects, or events (e.g., fear of snakes, needles, vomiting, choking, elevators, airplanes, heights)
- Health/illness anxiety: fear that one might have or contract a serious illness
- Social anxiety: fear and avoidance of social situations due to concerns about possible negative judgment
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD involves intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that provoke high levels of distress, leading to mental or physical rituals (compulsions) that help relieve that distress. These symptoms can be incredibly time-consuming and can interfere with work performance and interpersonal relationships. Here are just a few examples of what OCD can look like (see here for others):
- Intrusive thoughts about germs, dirt, or contamination, along with repeated cleaning and hand-washing
- Intrusive thoughts about losing control and hurting yourself or someone else, along with ruminating or repeatedly seeking reassurance that you did/will not harm anyone
- Intrusive thoughts about having made a mistake (e.g., leaving the stove on, reading something incorrectly), along with repeated checking to make sure you didn’t
- Intrusive thoughts about things being even, symmetrical, or “just right,” along with repeating, counting, or re-rearranging until it “feels” right
- Intrusive thoughts about harm coming to loved ones, along with actions meant to “undo” the thought or prevent the bad thing from happening
- Intrusive thoughts about morality and religion, along with excessive prayer, confession, or reassurance-seeking
- Intrusive thoughts about one’s sexual orientation or identity, along with rumination, excessive online research, or mental reviewing of past interactions
Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Body-focused repetitive behaviors include hair-pulling, skin-picking, nail-biting, and similar behaviors that interfere with daily life and are very difficult to control. Many people may bite their nails or scratch at their skin occasionally, but when taken to the extreme, these behaviors can be highly distressing and often cause physical damage, including balding or thinning hair, scarring, and skin lesions.
Other Specialties
We also help patients develop tools for dealing with stress, perfectionism, and difficulty regulating strong emotions. If you are unsure whether our clinic is a good fit for your needs, reach out to schedule a 15-minute free phone consultation, and we can discuss your specific concerns.
Therapeutic Modalities
Cognitive Behavior (CBT)
CBT is the type of psychotherapy that is most strongly supported by research evidence to treat anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. CBT for anxiety typically involves both challenging unhelpful thought patterns (“cognitive restructuring”) and also gradually approaching feared situations (“exposure”), with the goal of reducing fear and avoidance in those situations. CBT for OCD also involves exposure to feared situations, with the additional component of preventing compulsive or ritualistic behaviors (see below). CBT for body-focused repetitive behaviors involves building awareness of the behavior, developing alternate behaviors, and learning strategies to help cope with triggers.
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a type of CBT, is the gold standard treatment for OCD. ERP involves approaching triggering situations in a safe, controlled environment while practicing resisting compulsive behaviors. Through ERP, you will learn that that the feared consequences of breaking OCD’s “rules” are less likely than you might think; and that no matter how anxious you feel, the feeling does subside, even without your rituals. You will eventually begin to feel more comfortable in previously feared situations, and will get better at managing the risk, doubt, and uncertainty inherent in everyday life without using compulsions.
Other Techniques and Strategies
Other evidence-based strategies that can be useful in treatment include:
- Mindfulness: learning to be fully present in the moment and remain non-judgmental of your experience
- Emotion regulation: learning to name and understand your emotions, and to develop strategies to reduce vulnerability to negative emotions
- Distress tolerance: learning to skillfully cope with pain and distress without turning to impulsive or self-damaging behaviors
Services
Consultation
We will typically start with a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your reasons for seeking treatment, review our clinic policies, and answer any questions you might have. This way, we can make sure that Boston Anxiety and OCD will be a good fit for you and your treatment goals.
Diagnostic Evaluation
The first 1-2 sessions involve a thorough diagnostic evaluation, during which we will discuss your history and presenting symptoms. You will receive detailed feedback regarding the results of the assessment, and we will collaboratively develop a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs.
Psychotherapy
Therapy at BAO is skills-based and goal-oriented. Sessions are typically 45-50 minutes long, and involve learning, practicing, and troubleshooting skills to target your symptoms and help you reach your goals. You will also be given assignments to practice skills outside of session.
Policies and Procedures
- Telehealth: All our services take place using a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. Patients must be physically located in Massachusetts during sessions in order to comply with state laws.
- Payment: Boston Anxiety and OCD unfortunately does not accept insurance or offer a sliding scale. The fee is $300 per session, which is due the day of session. Many health insurance policies provide partial coverage for out-of-network mental health treatment, and we are happy to provide you with a receipt that you may submit to your insurance company, so that you receive the benefits to which you are entitled; however, we do not bill insurance directly.
- Read our Notice of Privacy Practices.
Patients’ Rights Notice – Your Cost of Care
- Under the federal No Surprises Act, we are required to inform you of the following rights you have regarding advance notice of the out of pocket costs you may incur if you are uninsured, or if you have non-governmental health insurance coverage.
- Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services. You have a right to receive a written disclosure of the charges you will be responsible to pay us, which will be provided to you via a written Good Faith Estimate of your expected out of pocket health care costs within the following time frames:
- If you schedule your appointment at least 10 business days in advance: within 3 business days after scheduling.
- If you schedule your appointment at least 3 business days in advance: within 1 business day after scheduling.
- You also have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days of request, even if your visit will be covered by your non-governmental health insurance plan. If we are unable to tell you a specific amount (because we cannot predict what specific treatment will be needed), we will disclose to you the estimated maximum amount that you will pay.
- You have a right to dispute a bill from our office if it is at least $400 more than the Good Faith Estimate we have provided you. For any questions or more information about your rights under the No Surprises Act, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers. or call 1- 800-985-3059.
If anxiety, fear, stress, worry, intrusive thoughts, or compulsive behaviors are keeping you from living the life you want to live, please don’t hesitate to reach out for a consultation!
Boston Anxiety and OCD 