Dr. Martin specializes in the treatment of Anxiety and Fears: Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Medical Procedure Fears, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Work Stress, Marital Stress, Specific Phobias. Treatment emphasizes Exposure-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Treatment is active, collaborative, supportive, and custom tailored to each individual. The patient works at his or her own pace while actively learning to think and behave in ways that increase confidence. Successful therapy leads to reduced anxiety, depression, avoidance and impairment. Dr. Martin has offices in both Marin and Sonoma Counties.
Problems Treated:
PANIC DISORDER: Panic Disorder essentially means fear of panic attacks. Many people (perhaps one out of five) experience panic attacks, yet most are not frightened about them. They are very uncomfortable, but are usually understood not to be dangerous. Most people float with them while the adrenalin burns off and within a half an hour or so, feel recovered and may feel a little “off” for an hour or so afterwards (like they just ran an Olympic sprint). A panic attack is a sudden and severe onset of anxiety which may include, for example, heart racing, difficulty breathing, feelings of dread and needing to escape, light-headedness or dizziness.
AGORAPHOBIA: In most instances, Agoraphobia refers to the experience of great emotional distress in, or avoidance of situations where one fears having a panic attack. In other words, it often accompanies Panic Disorder. Situations include shopping malls, church services, parties, restaurants, airplanes, bridges, freeways, doctors offices and even medical and dental procedures such as MRIs where the patient feels trapped and afraid of having a panic attack or in some cases a more limited symptom (not quite panic). Again, the underlying fear here would be either physical harm; social humiliation; or losing mental control and somehow not being able to get help.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD may take a variety of forms. Six of these seem to account for most of OCD. Many sufferers experience more than one form and symptoms may change over time.
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER. These patients have frequent episodes of worry, often many times a day. They worry excessively about such things as paying bills, traffic accidents, illness, etc. Their anxiety goes up and down as the individual is confronted situationally or mentally with a worried thought.
SPECIFIC PHOBIAS. These include for instance, fear of heights, flying, driving, public speaking, closed spaces, or animals. These individuals usually know their fears are exaggerated but like all anxiety disorders they continue to wonder “what if.” Thus, they either avoid situations or endure them with much distress.
DEPRESSION. Unlike an anxiety disorder, clinical depression often affects mood in many situations which are not stressful in and of themselves. Getting easily frustrated over small things is a common symptom of Clinical Depression. Depressed mood, tearfulness, loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities, lowered feelings of self worth and suicidal feelings are common symptoms. Getting increasingly frustrated or irritable, having constant ruminative worry, difficulty concentrating or remembering things, problems sleeping or with appetite can all feel like symptoms of anxiety. But they are also common symptoms of clinical depression.
SITUATIONAL STRESS. Marital problems, grief over loss of a friend, work conflicts, or financial uncertainty are all examples of situational stress. These stressors may be temporary, but can also be quite distressing and impairing and can lead to more serious problems over time such as an anxiety disorder or clinical depression. |