Anxiety Disorder Treatment in Los Angeles

Anxiety Disorder Treatment in Los Angeles

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in the United States — and one of the most misunderstood. Anxiety isn’t just nervousness or stress. In clinical terms, anxiety disorders involve persistent, excessive fear or worry that is out of proportion to the actual situation, causes significant distress, and interferes with daily life. When anxiety reaches that threshold — when it’s not just background noise but something that shapes your choices, limits your world, and keeps you from functioning — it warrants real clinical treatment.

AM Health Care treats anxiety disorders at our Los Angeles-area programs, including as part of our dual-diagnosis model for clients dealing with both anxiety and a substance use disorder. Anxiety and addiction co-occur at high rates — many people turn to alcohol or substances to quiet the anxiety, which creates its own set of problems. Our programs are designed to address both together.

Types of Anxiety Disorders We Treat

Anxiety isn’t a single condition — it’s a category of related disorders, each with its own features. At AM Health Care, our clinical team is trained in treating the full range:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) — Persistent, excessive worry about a range of topics — work, health, relationships, everyday events — that is difficult to control and causes significant distress or impairment.
• Panic Disorder — Recurrent unexpected panic attacks (sudden surges of intense fear with physical symptoms — racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest tightness) and persistent worry about having more attacks.
• Social Anxiety Disorder — Intense fear of social situations and being judged, embarrassed, or humiliated by others — to a degree that causes avoidance and significantly limits social and professional functioning.
• Specific Phobias — Intense fear of a specific object or situation (heights, flying, needles, certain animals) that is excessive relative to the actual threat.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — A trauma-related anxiety condition involving intrusive memories, avoidance of trauma reminders, negative mood and cognition changes, and hyperarousal following a traumatic event.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) — Persistent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) performed to reduce anxiety.

Many clients present with more than one anxiety disorder, or with anxiety alongside depression, PTSD, or a substance use disorder. Treatment is tailored to the full clinical picture, not just the primary diagnosis.

How We Treat Anxiety

Effective anxiety treatment typically combines therapy, medication (when appropriate), and behavioral skill-building. Our clinical approach draws from several evidence-based modalities:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — The most thoroughly researched treatment for anxiety disorders. CBT helps clients identify the distorted thought patterns that feed anxiety and practice more realistic, functional thinking. Exposure-based techniques — gradually approaching feared situations in a controlled way — are a cornerstone of CBT for anxiety and panic.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) — DBT skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and mindfulness are especially useful for anxiety that manifests as emotional dysregulation or self-destructive coping.
• EMDR Therapy — EMDR is effective for anxiety rooted in trauma, including PTSD. It helps clients reprocess traumatic memories so they carry less emotional charge.
• Mindfulness-Based Approaches — Mindfulness teaches clients to observe anxious thoughts and sensations without automatically reacting to them — a skill that becomes a powerful long-term tool.
• Medication Management — Our psychiatrists evaluate each client for medications that may reduce anxiety symptoms — SSRIs, SNRIs, and other non-habit-forming options. We avoid benzodiazepines for clients with substance use histories given the high potential for dependence.

Anxiety and Addiction: Treating Both at Once

Anxiety and substance use disorders are closely linked. Anxiety often drives people toward substances — alcohol to reduce social anxiety, benzodiazepines for panic, cannabis to “take the edge off.” Over time, substance use can worsen anxiety, create new anxiety patterns, and complicate treatment. Withdrawal from alcohol and benzodiazepines can itself produce severe anxiety.

Treating only the addiction without addressing the anxiety leaves clients vulnerable to relapse — because the anxiety that drove use in the first place is still there. Our mental health treatment programs integrate anxiety care with addiction recovery, so both are addressed in the same clinical setting, by the same treatment team, under the same plan.

Levels of Care for Anxiety Treatment

Anxiety disorders vary widely in severity. The right level of care depends on how significantly anxiety is affecting your functioning and whether other conditions are present:

• Partial Hospitalization (PHP) — For clients whose anxiety is significantly impairing daily functioning, who have a co-occurring condition requiring intensive treatment, or who have recently completed residential care. Our partial hospitalization program meets five days per week, six to eight hours per day.
• Intensive Outpatient (IOP) — For clients who need more than weekly therapy but can maintain their responsibilities outside of treatment hours. Our intensive outpatient program meets three to five days per week, three to four hours per day.
• Outpatient Therapy — For clients with milder anxiety who are stable and doing well with weekly therapy and medication management.

Our clinical team completes a full assessment during admissions to determine the level of care that’s right for you based on where you are clinically right now.

Frequently Asked Questions