Anxiety Treatment

Contents

• Why Seek Treatment for Anxiety?
• Program Philosophy and Benefits
• Treatment Options for Anxiety at Athletes Recovery
• Continuing Care

All individuals have times when they experience anxiety, like the nervousness you may feel right before a big game or the worry that builds up when you are trying to decide what to do with your life once you have stepped away from the game – this is a normal part of life. However, those who have an anxiety disorder have anxiety so severe that it can interrupt their daily routines and make life feel overwhelming. Generalized anxiety disorder causes individuals to frequently experience intense, excessive worry and irrational fear about every day situations. These all-encompassing feelings interfere with daily activities, are extremely difficult to control, and can last for long periods of time.

The Athletes Recovery Program is a confidential, private treatment program specifically designed to meet the unique needs of professional and collegiate athletes – both active and retired. We believe that an individualized approach is the best way to effectively treat anxiety and other mental health challenges facing today’s athletes. Athletes Recovery understands that a culturally-competent, compassionate, and experienced treatment team is critical to best meet the needs of our clients in providing the resources needed for lasting recovery.

Why Seek Treatment for Anxiety?

Having an untreated anxiety disorder can begin to cause serious disruptions in a person’s life. You may find that your athletic performance is slowly declining or that you have no idea how you are going to live your life once you have retired, which causes extreme amounts of worry. You may have noticed that you are having more problems within your personal relationships, or that you have slowly lost interest in activities that you used to enjoy. Additionally, it can lead to or worsen other mental and physical health conditions like depression and substance abuse. Most often, these symptoms don’t go away on their own. Instead they only get worse, which is why treatment for severe anxiety is needed.

An inpatient treatment program that specializes in treating mental health disorders has been shown to be an effective approach to the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. When you enter an inpatient setting, you are providing yourself with the opportunity to step back from the demands of daily life and place all of your attention on the healing process. Treatment in a inpatient program may include some psychotherapy that will teach you have to view and respond to challenging situations in a more effective way. Through a combination of medication and behavioral therapies, a inpatient treatment program can help you manage your anxiety symptoms and get control of your life back.

Program Philosophy and Benefits

Our treatment philosophy is based upon the acknowledgement that each athlete who comes to us is a unique person who is struggling with their own specific concerns. We alter our treatment approaches to fit each athletes needs ensuring the most effective approaches and best opportunity for recovery. We have created our services based upon the mental and physical regimens our athletes are familiar with; placing a strong emphasis upon strength and accountability of team.

Treatment Options for Anxiety at Athletes Recovery

Our approach to anxiety treatment is to provide each athlete with individualized, intensive treatment therapy based upon the results obtained from the intake assessment conducted upon arrival. Our therapeutic approaches are rooted in the principles of recovery with an added emphasis upon spiritual, emotional, and personal growth designed to transform the lives of the athletes we treat as they begin recovery from their anxiety. Some of the therapeutic methods we use may include:

Medication may be used in the beginning of your treatment to help you get your anxiety under control until you are able to learn more effective coping strategies. Over time, as you get better at using these newly-learned strategies, medication will be reduced and, in some cases, eliminated. All medication will be overseen and monitored by your treatment team.

Individual therapy is often used to treat anxiety because it allows an individual to work one-on-one with a therapist to help determine what may be causing the anxiety. Individual sessions provide the space to talk about private matters in a safe, non-judgmental space.

Group therapy will allow you to work with other athletes who are facing similar struggles and together you can help each other get to a better place. Through multiple group sessions, you can learn how to identify anxiety triggers and how to better cope with stressful situations, while gaining insight and support from those around you.

Family therapy is an important aspect of the treatment process as having anxiety can cause tension within the family dynamic. At Athletes Recovery, we will take the time to educate your family about anxiety and teach them ways in which they can be supportive to you during this difficult time. Additionally, we will open the lines of communication, letting each family member express what they are feeling so that any broken bonds can begin to heal.

In addition to our traditional therapeutic methods, Athletes Recovery offers a number of experiential programs. Some of these may include:

• Exercise
• Massage therapy
• Nutrition
• Prayer and meditation
• Acupuncture
• Physical therapy
• Animal therapy

Continuing Care

As you come to the end of your treatment program at Athletes Recovery, you will work directly with your treatment team to develop an aftercare plan that will best suit your continuing needs. Some individuals may decide that they need to continue their recovery journey in a less intensive environment and opt for a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or an intensive outpatient program (IOP). Both of these programs allow our clients to continue their therapy while slowly reintegrating back into their community. Others may feel that they have made enough progress and choose to discharge home with referrals to traditional outpatient therapy and community resources. Whatever your decision, Athletes Recovery is behind you the whole way.