The struggle of living with anxiety is often minimized, and finding a trained specialist is often challenging and frustrating. Anxiety Solutions is an international practice offering cutting-edge cognitive and behavioral treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Travel Agoraphobia with Panic, Fear of Flying and Phobias through virtual platforms across the UK, Western and Eastern Europe.
OCD is a mental health condition characterized by obsessions, upsetting thoughts pop into the mind and compulsions, repetitive behaviors and/or mental acts intended to relieve the distress of obsessions cause. OCD affects 3 out of 100 people of all ages and can vary from mild to debilitating. Exposure and Response prevention (ERP) and Cognitive and Behavioral therapy (CBT) have been the established treatments for OCD together with medication. However, over the past 20 years, the introduction of innovative Cognitive Therapy approaches have advanced the treatment of OCD. The most recent cognitive therapy approach is Inference Based Cognitive Therapy (I-CBT). Numerous studies have shown the I-CBT is more effective with complex types of obsessions.
Panic Attacks are characterized intense fear in response to the sudden occurance of physical sensations that are misinterpreted as imminently threatening to ones physical and/or mental well-being. Panic is not uncommon: roughly, 20%-25% of the general poplulation will have at least one panic attack in their lifetime. Typical symptoms of Panic include are shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, chest discomfort, lightheadedness and derealization (feeling things are not real) or depersonalization (feeling disconnected from ones self). In a small percentage of population, panic attacks can evolve into Panic Disorder, more serious condition characterized by recurrent, unpredictable panic attacks, that do not occur in the presence of other anxiety disorders, such as claustrophobia or performance anxiety.
Fear of Flying or Aviophobia, classified in the DSM 5 as a Specific Phobia, is characterized by “excessive and persistent fear of air travel”. Although there are multiple pathways to fear of air travel, most cases are accounted for by two but very different clinical phenomena:
Fear of mechanical failure and/or accident causing the plane to crash is the number one reason for fear of flying. Individuals with this fear so embed themselves in the possibility of a fatal outcome that the flight becomes contaminated with idea of premature death. This perspective colors the person’s entire reaction to the idea of flying. Individuals in this group focus on every and anything related to the functioning of the aircraft and accident.
I-CBT posits that obsessions are not just intrusions that are misinterpreted, rather they errors in reasoning, characterized by doubt-or discounting-of what is real or perceived in favor of what is imagined or extremely implausible. Locked doors might be unlocked, a clean surface might be contaminated, an organized shelf might cluttered or an unwanted image of doing harm might represent the intent to harm. Obsessional "thoughts" and/or images or "intrusions" are recurrent, unwanted and disturbing.
Compulsions are a response to obsessions, intended to undo or “neutralize” distress. these cause. Neutralizations can take the form of actions or mental acts, and the type of compulsion corresponds to the obsessional theme: what is dirty must be cleaned.
Locked doors must be checked, a "mistake" must be corrected, the memory of turning off the stove must be recalled or to keep a loved one safe, one must count to three.
However, the relief sought through compulsions always fail, as you can never resolve something that never occurred or simply doesn't exist: A locked door cannot be locked. An empty room cannot be emptied, and an accident or mistake that never happend cannot be apologized for. People with OCD become trapped in a frantic search for resolution that is out of reach, circular and ultimately
In ICBT people learn to see the point where they confuse what is real with what is imagined or ridiculously implausible and learn to understand the difference between the two. They also learn a unique way of thinking or reasoning that supports or justifies obsessional doubts. These false narratives are deconstructed and replaced by reality based stories. People are guided to start living in the alternative or real narrative though "reality sensing"- thinking and doing things as they would if they did not have OCD. You trust a stove is off and walk away. You ignore a thought that pops into your mind that you would never act on. You do not check an email that you know you have sent
By the end of therapy people, recover their relationship with the real world and stop being ruled by the endless torment of "what ifs". My clients are more present in relationships and work, and they are more likely to seek out new endeavors or ways of living that were simply out of reach before.
Agoraphobia with Panic is defined as fear and avoidance of places or activities where escape might be difficult if a panic attack occurred.This cycle of fear and avoidance lead to Agoraphobic avoidance in Panic disorder s very common, given the recurring and unexpected nature of episodes. Over time ,places and activities where panic has or could occur are increasing avoided, reinforcing the belief that these places are dangerous. Without treatment, the geography of "safety" shrinks, freedom of movement becomes more limited, undermining relationships, career, quality of life and in extreme cases, leading to disability
Travel Agoraphobia with Panic is intense fear and avoidance related to travel or forms of transport where escape is thought to be difficult and "help" not available. Common feared travel or transport situations are:
Safety Behaviors are the many behaviors and actions that panickers believe will keep them safe from panic during travel.
Two Components of the treatment of Travel Agoraphobia with Panic:
Panic Control Therapy
Panic Control Therapy (PCT) is a Cognitive and Behavioral approach adapted to treat Panic. Developed by American psychologist David Barlow more than 40 years ago, PCT remains the treatment of choice for Panic Disorder. The main components of Panic Control Therapy are:
Transport-Travel Exposure Therapy Consists of progressive exposure to all feared transport situations. This component is the bridge back to recovering the lost geography of movement and travel. Clients are asked to create a ladder of difficulty or hierarchy of travel/transport feared and avoided, from the least challenging to the most difficult. Examples of the types avoided transport/travel situations I help clients recover through progressive exposure include:
Phone screening at no cost I offer a free phone screening. To get an idea of your needs and fit with my practice, I gather initial information about the condition and symptoms you are seeking treatment for, why you are seeking therapy now, co-existing conditions, your motivation and commitment to change. I also briefly explain the CBT approaches I use, including Inference-Based Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT)
As a result, they have biased scanning for and memory of aviation accidents, reports of pilot error or irresponsible behavior. Aviation statistics mean nothing to them: 2.5 incidents per million aviation hours ? 8% of passengers in such accidents fatally injured ? “Someone has to go down, why not me”. “It is unnatural for this much metal to be in the air”. As with most phobias and obsessions, the perception of risk does not align with what is real or plausible and there is a broken relationship with possibility. Some examples of fears in Fear of Flying include:
In fear of flying, as with other anxiety disorders, the go to reaction is to avoidance. Those who do fly rely heavily on a combination of sedative medications and Safety Behaviors, which are responses or actions that allow them to feel safer or 'protected'. Examples of common safety behaviors used by fearful fliers include:
This form of air travel anxiety is experienced by those who suffer from panic disorder. It is important to understand that, generally, this group of travelers is not afraid of the plane crashing, rather, they fear having a panic attack while on the aircraft and experience the typical panic symptoms, fears and rely on classic safety behaviors when flying. Of course, context shapes specific safety behaviors used.
CBT is the treatment of choice for both fear of panic and fear of accident during air travel. The core fears of each is different, and, consequently, the focus of cognitive methods varies accordingly. Nonetheless, the fundamentals of CBT are applicable to the treatment of both. Briefly, steps in the approach I use, by category, are listed below:
© 2025 Robert Safion, M.Ed.