Anxiety & Panic
More than "just stress" — and more treatable than you've been led to believe.
Generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, and chronic worry are distinct, diagnosable conditions with effective treatments. The problem isn't you. The problem is that most people never receive care calibrated to what's actually driving their symptoms.
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Anxiety disorders are not a character flaw
Anxiety is a real neurobiological condition — not excessive sensitivity, poor coping, or weakness. It involves patterns in how the brain processes threat, uncertainty, and arousal, and it responds to treatment that addresses those mechanisms directly.
The term "anxiety" covers a family of distinct disorders: generalized anxiety disorder (chronic, pervasive worry), panic disorder (recurrent panic attacks with anticipatory anxiety), social anxiety (fear of judgment or embarrassment in social situations), and agoraphobia, among others. Each has a distinct treatment profile.
What most of them share: they tend to be underestimated by clinicians who aren't specialists, undertreated with generic prescriptions and non-specific therapy, and experienced by patients as shameful or self-indulgent. None of that is warranted.
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Panic disorder with or without agoraphobia
- Social anxiety disorder
- Specific phobias interfering with daily life
- Anticipatory anxiety and avoidance
- Anxiety related to medical conditions
- Chronic worry that disrupts sleep, work, and relationships
- Anxiety co-occurring with depression or OCD
A generic prescription and 45 minutes of talk therapy often isn't enough
The standard route — see a general practitioner or psychiatrist for 15 minutes, leave with an SSRI, see a therapist who does supportive talk therapy — fails a meaningful percentage of people with anxiety disorders. Not because medication or therapy don't work, but because the treatment isn't matched to the mechanism.
Effective anxiety treatment requires identifying the specific disorder, understanding what's driving it, and choosing an approach — behavioral, pharmacological, or both — calibrated to that. Panic disorder, social anxiety, and GAD each respond to somewhat different approaches.
Dr. Batista brings OCD and anxiety expertise to every case. Appointments are not 15 minutes. Treatment decisions are explained, not handed down.
Precise, Evidence-Based
Comprehensive diagnostic evaluation to identify the specific anxiety presentation and any co-occurring conditions.
Medication management when appropriate — with a full explanation of options, mechanisms, and expected timelines.
Psychotherapy-informed treatment from a psychiatrist who understands both modalities and can coordinate care with a behavioral therapist when indicated.
Treatment starts with understanding
No two anxiety presentations are identical. Treatment at this practice begins with a thorough evaluation — not a checklist.
Full Diagnostic Evaluation
A comprehensive assessment of your anxiety history, symptom patterns, prior treatments, sleep, substance use, and any co-occurring conditions — to get the diagnosis right, not just close enough.
Clear Treatment Plan
Options explained in plain language: what each medication does, what the behavioral approach involves, what to expect in terms of timeline and side effects. Nothing prescribed without your understanding.
Ongoing Longitudinal Care
Follow-up appointments with the same psychiatrist, at intervals that match your needs. Direct access between visits. No handing off to a covering provider.
Panic attacks are not dangerous — but they can become life-limiting
A panic attack is an acute episode of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms — racing heart, shortness of breath, derealization, the overwhelming sense that something is catastrophically wrong. They are not medically dangerous. But untreated panic disorder tends to expand: the anticipatory anxiety grows, avoidance grows, and the circle of "safe" situations shrinks.
Panic disorder is one of the most responsive conditions to proper treatment. With the right approach, most patients achieve significant reduction in panic frequency and avoidance within weeks to months.
Book a New Patient Intro CallAnxiety disorders respond well to the right treatment. You deserve to find out what that looks like for you.
A comprehensive evaluation with a specialist in anxiety disorders — wherever you are.
15 minutes · Free
90 minutes · $1,200