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 David Steinberg, PhD New York 212-721-1379 Philadelphia 215-253-4473 davidpsteinberg@gmail.com |
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David's work is authentic and effective; his ability to go to the ~Kathy freston, Author "Quantum Wellness" 
David Steinberg is one of the new pioneers in mind-body medicine. He brings together the healing traditions of East and West with wisdom, grace and true understanding. I recommend his teachings of the highest order. ~ Saul David Raye, Yogi, healer, musician & activist 
I have experienced Dr. Steinberg's work on multiple occasions. A session with him is like pressing a reset button on your mind, body, and spirit. I highly recommend him as a healer and as a psychotherapist. ~Andrew Weil, MD (Pioneer in integrative medicine) |
| Therapy for Anxiety in Philadelphia |
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If you are reading this material, it is likely that you or someone you care about is suffering from anxiety. What I offer are tools for you to begin to understand and take control of your emotional life. Instead of being fused with your anxious self, I can guide you to begin to negotiate a healthy relationship with this emotionally vulnerable part of you so that you can rediscover the beauty and joy in your day to day life and relationships.
As a therapist I believe we grow and develop in the context of relationships, and we internalize the emotional vulnerabilities of our parents and culture. Let me be clear here that I am not a parent-blamer. Our parents did the best they could with the tools that they had when we were children. They are, however, only the by-products of their own upbringings and place in culture. The great illness of our time, in my opinion, is related to problems with attachment and an overriding human experience of alienation. Unhealthy anxiety is a by-product of early relationships, experience, and inherent constitution. This is why it feels so overwhelming and beyond your control to cope without self-medicating (i.e., using alcohol or drugs) or taking pharmaceuticals for relief. One solution that I have found to be effective is to first heal your relationship to yourself in a safe and trusting environment. Once this is accomplished, your relationships with loved ones and friends will transform and all sorts of new possibilities and ways of being in relationship then become open to you. The material below is offered to give you some basic information on different types of anxiety and includes a basic list of symptoms to help you understand your experience from a clinical mental health perspective. The information below has been reconstituted from several sources, including the National Institute of Mental Health and the DSM-IV Diagnostic Manual. This material is not meant to be diagnostic or a replacement for professional services. If you have any questions or wish to have a consultation, call me at one of the phone numbers above, or fill in the request for consultation form at the top right of this page. David
Anxiety is a healthy response to the challenges we face in our day to day lives. It can trigger heightened awareness to help us in stressful situations, such as a job interview, or making an important deadline for work. It's believed that raised anxiety creates an opportunity in therapy for change and growth. In this vein, all human developmental stages are accompanied with anxiety. When anxiety becomes overly pervasive,however, it interferes with day to day functioning and can be both emotionally and physically painful.
According to the NIMH, there are five major types of anxiety disorders. They are:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized anxiety can be diagnosed when you have had persistent excessive worries for a period of 6 months or longer (DSM IV). One of the sure signs that you have generalized anxiety disorder is when your anxiety is stronger than warranted for a given situation. The challenge around how you do or how you don't develop the insight that your anxiety is more than what is considered healthy. Symptoms can include:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have persistent, obsessive and often disturbing thoughts and use various rituals or compulsions to bind the ensuing anxiety. Rituals can include obsessively washing hands, counting, checking door locks, checking to make sure the stove burners are turned off, and many more behaviors. Sometimes checking behavior involves very specific and elaborate sequencing, and must be performed over and over again, especially if the order of the sequence is broken. While these rituals help to bind one's anxiety, they are often painful and deeply socially embarrassing. While healthy people will do things like check the locks or the stove before leaving the house, people with OCD find their repetitious rituals to be upsetting, but will compulsively continue to do them anyway. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, OCD affects around 2 million Americans, and it can often be accompanied by eating disorders, other anxiety disorders, or depression. Panic Attacks Panic attacks are sudden states of terror. Symptoms generally include: heart pounding dizziness nausea sweatiness feelings of terror chills or flush numbness or tingling in hands chest pain shortness of breathe fear of death Many people with panic attacks will end up in the emergency room, as they feel like they are dying from a heart attack. Attacks can occur any time, and according to the NIMH, happen twice as much with women. Part of the difficulty with panic disorder, is its unpredictable nature. This causes many stricken with this problem to experience a constant sense of dread because the terror is so frightening that they worry constantly over when the next attack will come. While many people will have one or only several panic attacks, others can be totally disabled as they start to avoid all situations which are known potential triggers. In extreme circumstances this can lead to agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). It is believed that panic disorder is at least partly inherited. Social Anxiety Disorder Social anxiety disorder is when one becomes overly anxious in normal social situations. It is accompanied by an intense fear of being watched and criticized by others. Their fear of being embarrassed can be so intense that they will persistently dread upcoming social activities even weeks in advance. This anxiety interferes with friendships, school and work. Social anxiety can co-exist with depression, substance abuse and other forms of anxiety. Substance abuse is often used as a way to self-medicate. Social anxiety disorder responds well to psychotherapy and psychotropic medications. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Post traumatic stress disorder is the result of the experience of trauma. Trauma can be anything from witnessing a frightening event, to actually having been directly physically, sexually or emotionally abused. While there are many possible reactions to trauma, people with PTSD can have a whole host of symptoms, including: hair trigger startle response or hyper-vigilance depression dissociation (flat affect and emotionally disconnected) emotional numbness loss of motivation irritability aggressive behavior violent behavior flashbacks to the trauma Loss of reality as the trauma is relived avoidance of anything related to original trauma substance abuse other anxiety disorders PTSD symptoms can lie dormant sometimes for many years after the initial experience of trauma. Women are more likely than men to develop PTSD. Psychotherapy and medication are often successful in the treatment of this disorder. |