Austin Center for Anxiety
Evidence-based online therapy for OCD, panic, and anxiety in Texas & Florida
Telephone: (512) 538-5066
If panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, avoidance, or constant reassurance-seeking are shrinking your life, evidence-based therapy can help get you unstuck. Dr. Ashton provides specialized online CBT and ERP for adults in Texas and Florida.
What I Treat
Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia
Although panic disorder can feel terrifying, it's one of the most treatable anxiety disorders, often responding to evidence-based CBT in a short period of time. People with panic disorder have sudden rushes of anxiety with physical symptoms such as heart racing, shortness of breath, shaking, feelings of unreality, and fear of dying or losing control. These attacks can be so frightening that people often think that they're dying and go to the emergency room for help. Fear of having panic attacks often leads to agoraphobia where people avoid situations due to the fear of those situations triggering another attack. Some typical agoraphobic situations people avoid are driving, exercising, being in crowded places, and drinking caffeine.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can take on many different forms. Its rituals include checking behaviors (i.e. checking that the door is locked), cleaning behaviors (i.e. excessive handwashing), and excessive reassurance seeking from others. Intrusive thoughts can include terrible images or fears that you might harm others in violent ways--people are often afraid to tell others, even loved ones, about these scary thoughts. OCD rituals can also lead to perfectionism that interferes with task completion. Scrupulosity is religious OCD and leads the sufferer to pray excessively or, alternatively, avoid religious activities they used to enjoy due to the anxiety associated with it. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), the extreme and sometimes disabling dissatisfaction with ones appearance, fits into this category as well. Exposure response prevention (ERP) is the treatment of choice for OCD.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Specific Phobias (Flying, Vomiting, etc.)