Cognitive Behavior Therapy for anxiety

Dr. Victoria G. Roatta is a licensed clinical psychologist providing CBT in English and Spanish to adults and adolescents in the Coral Gables/South Miami area.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the role of thinking and its effects on our feelings and our behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral Therapists teach concrete skills to challenge distorted, automatic negative thoughts which cause anxiety and depressed mood. With CBT you learn anxiety tolerating techniques to replace fear-based or avoidant behaviors.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts resulting in compulsive behaviors and/or mental acts that the person feels driven to perform. 

Pure Obsessional OCD

Pure-O is a form of OCD characterized by intrusive, unwanted, inappropriate thoughts, or impulses generally about specific themes like: safety and harm,  sexual orientation (H-OCD),  relationship decisions (R-OCD), fears of doing something illegal, pedophilia (P-OCD), over-concern for honesty or religious purity, or existential fears.

Obsessive Compulsive-Related Disorders (OCRDs) includes hoarding, excoriation (skin-picking), body dysmorphic disorder, and trichotillomania (hair-pulling).

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) is a personality disorder with the following characteristics: rigid adherence to rules and regulations, an overwhelming need for order, unwillingness to yield or give responsibilities to others and a sense of righteousness about the way things “should be done.”

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

GAD is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a number of different things. Individuals with GAD find it difficult to control their thinking.

Panic Disorder

Panic Disorder is diagnosed in people who experience spontaneous seemingly out-of-the-blue panic attacks and are very preoccupied with the fear of a recurring attack.

Specific Phobia

Specific phobias are an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of objects or situations that pose little real danger but provoke long-lasting and intense anxiety and avoidance. 

Major Depressive Disorder

Clinical depression causes severe and at times debilitating symptoms which affect how you think, feel and cope with stress. Symptoms of depression include loss of interest in things, increased or decreased sleep, increased or decreased in appetite, feeling guilty, decreased energy and decreased concentration.

Maladaptive Perfectionism

There are three types of perfectionism. Self-oriented, Other-Oriented, and Socially Prescribed. Maladaptive Perfectionism or Malignant Perfectionism refers to a maladaptive response to stressors such as analysis paralysis or excessive extreme procrastination. These rigid and exacting standards can lead to avoiding tasks for fear of not doing it to their standards, often leading to self-sabotage. 

ADD & ADHD

ADD/ADHD is marked by chronic inattention and/or hyperactivity that interferes with everyday functioning.

Coping Skills & Social Skills Training

Sometimes we reach adolescence without knowing how to effectively cope with having a rough day. 

Parenting Anxious Children

Parenting an anxious child is extremely stressful and normal parenting techniques such as reassurance can actually increase a child’s anxiety. 

Weight Loss

Learn mindfulness techniques for healthier more sustainable weight loss.

Insomnia 

Learn healthy sleep hygiene  for a better night’s rest.

Evidenced-Based Psychotherapy

  • Exposure & Response Prevention Therapy
  • Cognitive Restructuring
  • Behavioral Activation
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Dr. Victoria G. Roatta

Dr. Roatta received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Carlos Albizu University. Her clinical training/internship was done at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, where she worked with adults in both inpatient and outpatient settings providing individual and group therapy as well as psychological evaluations. At UM/JMMC she was also awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine. She held a position as Assistant Professor/Voluntary Faculty at the University of Miami until 2003 studying Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among patients at the Ryder Trauma Center. She has co-authored several publications in Behavioral Medicine, and has co-presented at eleven national conferences. After her postdoc, Dr. Roatta worked at the OCD Resource Center in Hollywood, where she specialized in providing CBT and ERP to English and Spanish speaking patients in Broward County. Currently Dr. Roatta is only in a clinical setting, as a solo practitioner specializing in the treatment of anxiety utilizing evidenced-based treatment modalities. Full curriculum vitae available.

 

 

 

 

 

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