When treating an anxiety disorder, homework assignments can be especially effective. Suppose for instance, that you suffer from social anxiety or a fear of crowds, your therapist may give you a specific assignment between sessions. You’re therapist may assign you to go to a mall, or a crowded place and ask ten strangers what time it is or let’s say that you have another common anxiety, you have a fear of driving over bridges, then your therapist may assign you in between sessions to simply sit in your car when it’s stationary, to do some relaxation exercises and within a relaxed state, while sitting in your car, to visualize driving over a bridge while still trying to maintain a calm heart rate. Your therapist will give you concrete exercises sometimes that create a safe parameter for you, a safe laboratory from which to begin to address in a casual and less intimidating way, some of these patterns that create anxiety for you in your day-to-day life. For moderate to severe anxiety disorders sometimes medications are recommended. Our therapists here work closely with medication providers and psychiatrist to help care for evaluation and help you work on medications. Now when we say medications here we don’t just mean psychiatric medications, we don’t mean just a pill that you take. For instance, when you exercise daily or when you eat well you’re creating a more favorable chemistry in your body so sometimes the best medication is specific behavioral changes you can make in your day-to-day life.
