Right now, you’re probably avoiding situations that trigger your anxiety. Social events feel impossible. Certain thoughts send you into panic. You’ve organized your entire life around what you can’t handle.
That changes with exposure therapy. You’ll walk into rooms you used to avoid. Have conversations without rehearsing every word. Drive routes you’ve been taking detours around for years.
The research backs this up—over 90% of people who complete exposure therapy see lasting improvements. But more importantly, you’ll recognize yourself again. The person who used to do things without overthinking every detail. Who didn’t need an escape plan for every situation.
Our team at the Anxiety and OCD Institute includes nationally recognized researchers who’ve written the books on OCD and anxiety treatment. But here’s what sets us apart—many of us have personal experience with the conditions we treat.
We understand what it’s like when your brain tells you something terrible will happen if you don’t check the lock one more time. When social situations feel like walking into a courtroom where everyone’s judging you. When intrusive thoughts make you question who you really are.
This isn’t theoretical knowledge. It’s lived experience combined with clinical expertise, serving the Brownsville community and South Texas through both virtual and in-person care.
First, you’ll work with your therapist to map out exactly what you’re avoiding and why. No judgment—just getting clear on where you are and where you want to be.
Then you’ll create a ladder of challenges, starting small and building up. Maybe it’s making eye contact with strangers before giving a presentation. Or touching a doorknob before handling raw chicken. Each step proves to your brain that you can handle more than you think.
During exposures, you’ll face these situations while your therapist guides you through the discomfort. You’ll discover that the catastrophic outcomes you expect rarely happen. And when anxiety does spike, you’ll learn it always comes back down if you don’t run away.
Ready to get started?
Whether you need prolonged exposure for PTSD, virtual reality exposure therapy for specific phobias, or specialized treatment for social anxiety, our approach is tailored to your specific situation. No cookie-cutter protocols.
For trauma survivors in the Brownsville area—including veterans, first responders, and those who’ve experienced accidents or violence—prolonged exposure helps you process memories without being overwhelmed by them. Social anxiety treatment focuses on the real situations you face daily, from work presentations to family gatherings.
Our virtual reality options let you practice in controlled environments first. Flying scenarios for flight phobia. Social situations for social anxiety. Combat environments for PTSD. The technology allows precise control over intensity while building real-world confidence.
If you’re avoiding situations, places, or thoughts because of anxiety, exposure therapy can help. The research is clear—it’s the most effective treatment for anxiety disorders, with success rates over 90% for specific phobias.
The key indicator is avoidance. If you’re taking the long route to avoid a certain street, declining invitations, or organizing your life around what makes you anxious, exposure therapy addresses exactly that pattern. It works because it targets the root cause—the avoidance that keeps fear alive.
You don’t need to be “ready” to face your biggest fears on day one. You just need to be tired of letting anxiety make decisions for you.
Virtual reality exposure therapy gives you all the benefits of real-world practice with complete control over the situation. Your therapist can adjust everything—how crowded the virtual airplane is, how turbulent the flight gets, how long the exposure lasts.
This is especially helpful for fears that are expensive or logistically difficult to practice. You can’t easily practice flying every week, but you can practice virtual flights as often as needed. Same with heights, storms, or specific trauma scenarios.
Research shows VR exposure works just as well as real-world exposure for most conditions. Many people actually prefer it initially because they know they can stop anytime, which makes them more willing to try challenging situations.
You will feel anxious during exposures—that’s the point. But this isn’t the overwhelming, out-of-control anxiety you’re used to. It’s purposeful anxiety with a clear endpoint and your therapist right there with you.
Think of it like physical therapy after an injury. It’s uncomfortable while you’re doing it, but that discomfort is healing you. The anxiety you feel during exposures is teaching your brain that these situations are actually safe.
Most people are surprised by how manageable it is. You start small, build confidence, and only move to harder challenges when you’re ready. The temporary discomfort during sessions is nothing compared to the relief of not having to avoid entire parts of your life anymore.
Most people notice changes within the first few sessions. You might find yourself thinking about a feared situation without your heart racing, or realizing you didn’t take your usual avoidance route without consciously deciding to be brave.
Significant improvements typically happen over 12-20 weekly sessions. But if you need faster results, our intensive programs can produce major changes in just four days of concentrated work. These intensives involve several hours of exposure practice daily, allowing your brain to learn new responses quickly.
The best part? The changes stick. Unlike medication that stops working when you stop taking it, the confidence and skills you build through exposure therapy become part of who you are.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard for OCD treatment. It involves deliberately triggering your obsessions while resisting the compulsions that usually follow.
This might sound backwards—why would you want to trigger the thoughts that bother you? But here’s what happens: when you stop responding to intrusive thoughts with rituals, checking, or mental gymnastics, your brain gradually stops treating them as emergencies.
For example, if you have contamination fears, you might touch something “dirty” and then resist washing your hands. The anxiety spikes initially, but then naturally decreases when nothing bad happens. Your brain learns that these thoughts don’t require action.
Yes, and kids often respond even faster than adults because they haven’t spent decades reinforcing avoidance patterns. We modify the approach to be age-appropriate—more games and rewards for younger children, more independence-building for teenagers.
Parents play a crucial role in treatment. You’ll learn how to support your child’s progress without accidentally reinforcing their anxiety. This might mean not providing excessive reassurance or not allowing anxiety to dictate family decisions.
For teens dealing with social anxiety, school avoidance, or OCD, treatment focuses on getting them back to normal teenage activities. Our virtual reality options are often particularly appealing to younger clients who are comfortable with technology and find it less intimidating than traditional exposures.
Local Resources
Useful Links
Other Services we provide in Brownsville
