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Thank You from ADAA Executive Director Susan Gurley.

It was one year ago in the month of July that Aaron Beck, MD, the founder of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) passed away. I write this blog post as a memorial to one of the great minds of our times and to acknowledge the tremendous impact Dr.Beck had on the field of psychotherapy.

The digital natives we child-focused clinicians work with are simply incredible. Not only do they know their way around technology far better than many adults, but they’re also often fluid with their identity: openly embracing either their or their peers’ diverse ancestry, gender identity, sexual orientation, religions, family background, financial standing, as well as neurodivergence and disabilities in themselves and others.

Communities of color often have cultures that are rooted in the importance of community and family. Therefore, people of color are used to taking care of others and can find it difficult to prioritize self-care. However, self-care can be a powerful mental health tool for fostering mental well-being.

It takes courage to successfully deal with anxiety disorders, but with lots of good information, coaching and support from your therapist and others you can learn to do it. You may not think that you have much courage because you have an anxiety disorder that make you fearful at times. However, courage is not acting without fear. It is acting despite fear. I have seen many, many examples of people with anxiety disorders who learned coping skills, to help them face their fears, and as a result got better and better over time. You can too.

A Q&A with ADAA Member Karen Cassiday, PhD, ACT answering community questions on overcoming agoraphobia.

Parent-Child Interaction Training (PCIT) is a type of therapy that involves both parents/guardians and their young children (usually ages 2 to 7). After all, parents/guardians are the ones who will see their children grow into the amazing adults they will be, and the therapist is only here as a brief part of that journey.

Our growing understanding of the relationship between racism and health has enormous implications broadly and in relation to minoritized women. Black and Brown womanhood often results in the exposure to multiple oppressive and traumatic experiences uniquely dependent on the intersection among racism, sexism, and violence. 

Many mental health professionals are now conducting patient visits virtually. I am one of the only psychologists left in my building who has stayed behind to continue in-person work while abiding by COVID protocols. Since our practice specializes in refractory OCD spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders a lot of the work done at our outpatient clinic requires in-vivo exposures, which cannot be replicated on Zoom.

In BDD, people are tormented by obsessive thoughts associated with a part or parts of their physical appearance being flawed in some way, yet these flaws tend not to be noticeable to anyone but themselves.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that challenges ineffective thought patterns (cognitions) and ineffective behavior patterns (behavioral) to pursue a more fulfilling life.