Coastal Center for Anxiety Treatment Information

The Coastal Center for Anxiety Treatment does not participate in any insurance networks, including Medicare or Medicaid, however many insurance policies provide out-of-network reimbursement back to their members. While we do not bill insurance directly, we will provide you with a statement that includes all the required information that can be submitted for reimbursement. If you would like to use your insurance, we recommend that you verify "out-of-network" mental health benefits with your insurer prior to your first appointment. We are happy to complete any necessary paperwork that your insurance company requires. Why doesn't Coastal Center for Anxiety Treatment participate in insurance panels? We did participate in multiple insurance plans for over a decade. However, it became an increasing concern that treatment considerations were too often being made by insurance companies based on cost-management rather than the most effective evidence-based practices. Being "out-of-network" means that we can develop a treatment approach based on your needs exclusively. Can I continue to see my current therapist while undergoing anxiety treatment? In most cases, the answer is yes. If you are seeing a therapist for other life issues and that therapist is willing to collaborate and is supportive of you receiving CBT/ERP then it may be fine to see both therapists. Insurance may not pay for you to see two therapists. It would be helpful to have your current therapist call either to make the initial referral or to provide background into their treatment approach so far. How common are anxiety disorders? Anxiety disorders affect more than 19 million men and women in the United States and are also common among children and adolescents. In fact, anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychological disorder in America, effecting people in all walks of life. Isn't anxiety normal? Yes. In fact, anxiety is hard-wired into us as a way to protect us from danger. Anxiety can also be called a "fight or flight" response, which means that when we perceive danger, our bodies give us the rush of energy we need to deal with the situation. We also need "optimal anxiety" for peak performance, such as when responding to a true crisis. Sometimes, however, we have "false-alarms" where the fight-or-flight response is triggered in the absence of true danger and causes significant distress and diminishes our social or vocational effectiveness. In these instances, an anxiety disorder may be the cause. Who is not appropriate for treatment? People with active bipolar disorder, psychosis, suicidal ideation, or addictions need to receive treatment for these conditions elsewhere prior to anxiety treatment. Likewise, people in crisis for problems unrelated to their anxiety disorder (even if it exacerbates the anxiety) may need to stabilize that crisis before anxiety treatment can commence. Also, having motivation for treatment is vital. Because ERP therapy requires a person to begin facing fears, it can be challenging, especially in the early stages. Clients must be willing to initially experience greater discomfort. Those who are "brought in" by a spouse or a parent to be "fixed" tend to not do as well as those have internal motivation to manage their fears. If parent and child have the same anxiety disorder, parents will likely need to treat their anxiety either prior to or concurrently with their child's anxiety. Otherwise, it is like asking a smoker to give up smoking while people smoke around them. Anxiety may be caused by an underlying medical condition. See your medical doctor first to rule this out prior to beginning treatment. What is treatment like? 1. Dr. Goodman will speak with potential clients on the phone to get a brief background into the presenting problem and either set up an appointment or make another recommendation. 2. Prior to the initial evaluation, new clients fill out an extensive intake packet which they bring to that appointment. 3. Dr. Goodman will review the packet at the time of the evaluation and then then meet with the client for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. Following the evaluation, Dr. Goodman typically provides a diagnosis and sends home additional (more detailed) assessments pertaining to the diagnosis and/or provides or recommends reading materials. 4. The next one to two sessions usually involves further clarification of the "nitty-gritty" details of how the anxiety disorder impacts one's thinking, feelings, and behaviors and how the disorder is currently being maintained and how one treats it. 5. Once the client is aware of why they are having the anxiety problem and how it is treated they then are faced with "the decision. Is it WORTH IT to put in the hard work required to deal with most anxiety disorders, even if that means feeling more anxious initially as one faces their dreaded fear? If someone is being pushed into treatment by a parent or spouse, the answer often is "no. If that is the case treatment is put on hold and the client walks away with a better understanding of their anxiety disorder and that there is an effective treatment should they change their mind. 6. If the client decides that it is WORTH IT to face their fears then a list of "exposure goals" is drafted and broken down into small steps. Initial exposures typically are conducted with Dr. Goodman (depending upon the nature of the fears) and clients practice utilizing specific coping tools in the face of their anxiety. Dr. Goodman also utilizes components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to enhance treatment effectiveness. 7. Practice, practice, practice…You get out of it what you put into it. If the client does not follow through with treatment recommendations, often it is time and money wasted.