UCH Psychiatry Outpatient Service
Anxiety Disorders Specialty Clinic
The Anxiety Disorders Clinic is open to all adults who are patients of the UCH outpatient clinic. The clinic also accepts patients referred by psychiatrists in the community. It is a gateway to complete assessment, systematic treatment and experimental approaches.
Anxiety Disorders are often marked by an unexplained sense of fear that either comes out of the blue, for no clear reason, or is triggered by worry, unwanted thoughts, situations or memories. Anxiety symptoms are often marked by acute spells of anxiety that may include racing heart, shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort, dizziness, queasiness, sweating, shaking, a sense of wanting to flee, fears of losing control or going crazy, or fears of death from the intense physical symptoms that are experienced. Anxiety may result in a great deal of worry about the physical symptoms of anxiety, resulting in frequent visits to a primary care doctor or emergency room.
There are six main categories of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders often come in clusters where more than one anxiety disorder is present. In addition, anxiety disorders may be complicated by depression, alcohol or drug use (often used to self-medicate anxiety), or eating disorders.
For Patients
The Anxiety Disorders Clinic is open to all adults who are patients of the UCH outpatient clinic. The clinic also accepts patients referred by their psychiatrists in the community.
Hours of Operation
Tuesdays 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursdays 9:00 a.m. - noon
To Make an Appointment:
303-724-1005
What to Expect
First Appointment: As a patient at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, your first appointment will take about two hours. You will be interviewed to see if there is a diagnosable anxiety disorder or whether your symptoms of anxiety may be due to other psychiatric or medical conditions. Your lifestyle and coping skills will be assessed to determine whether they contribute to anxiety symptoms.
Treatment: Under the supervision of a University of Colorado faculty psychiatrist, a psychiatry resident (your treating physician) will work with you to design a specialized treatment plan based on how severe your current problem is and how much your daily life is affected by it. In addition, your treatment plan will consider other medical problems that may be affecting your health or well-being. This plan may include other tests, gathering additional information, prescription medicines, and/or psychotherapy. The type of psychotherapy recommended would be based both on research demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment and your learning style. Often a combination of psychotherapy and medication will be recommended. Your physician will track your progress using research based rating scales and will make changes in the treatment plan as needed.
You will also be provided with education and support to help make changes in your lifestyle that may reduce anxiety symptoms.
The clinic offers group therapies for stress management, social anxiety and panic disorder. Other types of groups for anxiety disorders will be offered in the future. Recovery Inc., a community-based organization, offers a free weekly support group during clinic hours.
Physicians and Staff
The Anxiety Disorders Clinic is co-directed by Dr. Bob Davies and Dr. Neil Weiner. Dr. Davies is an associate professor of psychiatry and an anxiety disorder researcher. Dr. Weiner is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Weiner has been recognized for his work in clinical practice in the Denver community (since 1987). In 2003, 2004, and 2005 he was listed in 5280 magazine, as one of Denver’s top physicians. Dr. Davies and Dr. Weiner will provide oversight and clinical direction to the specialty clinic and psychiatry residents. This may include consultations, evaluations, psycho-pharmacologic, and psychotherapeutic treatments specific to anxiety disorders.
How to Get a Referral
Your primary care physician or psychiatrist can refer you to the Anxiety Disorders Clinic by contacting Tanjala Wilson at 303-724-1005 to alert her to the referral. Then you should contact Ms. Wilson directly to schedule an evaluation and mention the name of your referring physician.
You may also contact Ms. Wilson to request an evaluation in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic without a physician’s referral.
For Medical Professionals
The Anxiety Disorders Clinic utilizes evidence-based biological and psychotherapeutic treatments including group therapy.
Patient Assessment
The initial anxiety disorder evaluation takes two hours. Patients are thoroughly assessed for the following anxiety disorders:
- Panic Disorder with and without agoraphobia
- Social Phobia
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Simple Phobia
The patient is also assessed for other Axis I diagnoses with special attention to the most common co-morbid conditions seen with anxiety disorders including mood disorders, attention deficit disorder, substance dependence and eating disorders. A thorough lifestyle and personality assessment will be completed to determine how these factors contribute to the patient’s anxiety symptoms.
After precise clinical diagnoses have been made, specific rating scales are used to assess the severity of the disorder(s) and to monitor treatment progress over time.
Treatment
Treatment plans are staged based on co-morbidity profiles. Psychiatry residents provide evidence-based psycho-pharmacologic treatments and assess the patient’s learning style and motivation for specific evidence-based individual and group psychotherapies effective for his/her anxiety disorder. Residents monitor the progress of improvement over time using standardized measures.
Patients are also provided with psycho-education and support for lifestyle modifications to reduce anxiety symptoms. In addition to the psychiatry residents, psychology and social work interns are also involved in providing evidence-based psychotherapies including specific cognitive behavioral therapies for each of the anxiety disorders as well as depression. Interpersonal therapy is also offered as an evidence-based treatment for depression.
Physician Consultations
The clinic provides consultations to psychiatrists in the community. These consultations take place over two to three sessions and result in a consultative report and recommendations to the referring clinician. Physicians and patients may request consultations by contacting Tanjala Wilson at 303-724-1005.
Community Involvement
We expect the Anxiety Disorders Program to have a leadership role in providing educational opportunities to community-based physicians. The clinic will also participate in National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day, which will allow medical student and resident involvement in screening and educating patients who attend this event. The clinic will work with the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and local media to enhance public education regarding the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders. Psychiatry residents working in the program may attend monthly meetings of the Colorado Anxiety Disorders Institute.
Education
The co-directors of the clinic will define a specific curriculum and provide learning opportunities for psychiatry residents and psychology and social work interns, including classroom didactic sessions, computer guided literature review supporting evidence-based treatments, individual and group supervision, research opportunities, and electives.
Psychiatry residents will be knowledgeable in differentiating each distinct anxiety disorder and identifying co-morbid conditions. Residents will also be familiar with evidence-based psychotherapies studied for each specific anxiety disorder and the efficacy of these treatments. These will include, but will not be limited to, individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy for panic disorder, PTSD and simple phobias. Exposure response prevention therapy is available for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Faculty
Dr. Bob Davies and Dr. Neil Weiner, associate and assistant professors, respectively, in the Department of Psychiatry, will provide oversight and clinical direction to the specialty clinic. Drs. Davies and Weiner will supervise psychiatry residents in consultations, evaluations, psycho-pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments specific to anxiety disorders.
