Paul VanAntwerp

Are you experiencing anxiety, fear, or panic? For over 20 years, I have been helping people learn how to manage and reduce their symptoms and experience of anxiety. I can help you to tame this anxiety and reclaim your freedom. It is understandable to feel pessimistic if you have suffered from panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias and/or social anxiety for a long time. There is hope and a better quality of life possible for you.

Treating depression is one of the main specialty areas of my practice. Depression is very common, In fact, research shows that roughly 17.3 million American adults will experience an episode of depression at some point in their life. Depression can occur after a major change in your life; such as a break-up, the loss of a loved one or a career or life change. Sometimes symptoms can arise unexpectedly or due to increasing frustration and problems occurring with a job or a relationship.

Treating Bipolar Disorder and supporting people in learning how to effectively manage their illness is another main specialty area of my practice. Many with Bipolar Disorder are bright, talented and creative. People are often diagnosed between ages 15 to 30 years; typically following a significant event in their lives such as starting/losing a job, going to college, seasonal changes or a death in the family. Therapy is necessary for achieving long term control and mastery over this illness.

I have been using CBT and cognitive specific methods to help my clients for over 20 years. CBT is primarily focused on teaching people how to change unhelpful or unhealthy thoughts and problematic or unhealthy behaviors. CBT is functionally a combination of two well known and effective types of therapy: ‘cognitive therapy’ and ‘behavior therapy." On an individual basis, being able to think, feel and act differently is an achievable and desired outcome for all of my clients.

DBT is a proven and effective form of therapy that is primarily focused on understanding and accepting your difficult thoughts and feelings, learning skills to better manage and control these feelings and to become able to make positive changes in your life. DBT helps people to regain control over their emotions and actions and teaches skills related to four main modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional expression/regulation and interpersonal effectiveness.

I have helped many clients via Person-Centered therapy and developing a strong therapeutic relationship. This approach is based upon the underlying belief that every person has both the ability and the desire to reach their potential through personal growth and change. Rogers named this self-actualization; which comes from a person’s capacity for self-understanding and for changing their own self-concepts, as well as their worldview, attitudes and behaviors.