We Accept Most Major Insurances
Effective Treatment for Panic Disorder in Dallas, Texas
Our outpatient treatment program fills the gap in mental health care for working adults navigating low-to-moderate acuity mental health conditions. Panic disorder includes frequent and unexpected panic attacks that cause intense fear, discomfort, and a loss of control. The fear of more attacks impairs daily life functioning, relationships, and your quality of life. For those struggling with panic disorder, we provide effective treatment, grounded in evidence-based care, in a safe and supportive environment.
With our insurance-based model, we provide an accessible treatment program for working adults that ensures access to healing, privacy, and comfort. We offer a structured level of care with an outpatient program (OP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), and a partial hospitalization program (PHP) for panic disorder treatment in Dallas. Through our mental health-only treatment program, you’ll work with our clinicians to reduce the risk of panic attacks and improve functioning to lead the quality life you deserve.
A Welcoming Outpatient Experience in Dallas, Texas
The distressing and isolating nature of panic disorder leads to physical and emotional exhaustion that impedes your ability to function in daily life. We offer a peaceful, wellness-shop feel, with your emotional well-being and safety at the center of our work. Our in-person outpatient treatment program is designed to provide accessible care in Dallas that supports consistency and real-life integration for lasting wellness. Through compassionate, evidence-based care in a supportive environment, you’re given the space to build resilience, restore hope, and make lasting change for a fuller life.
The Alta Health Difference
Alta Health was created to fill a gap in behavioral healthcare — offering accessible, outpatient-only mental health treatment that is compassionate, structured, and insurance-focused.
Outpatient-Only Focus
We exclusively provide outpatient levels of care, including PHP, IOP, and outpatient therapy. We do not offer inpatient, residential, or detox services.
Insurance-Based Care
Our programs are designed to work within insurance-based models, helping individuals access care without luxury or resort-style framing.
Wellness-Oriented Environment
We cultivate a calm and supportive space that focuses on emotional health, coping skills, and sustainable well-being.
Evidence-Based Modalities
Treatment is grounded in proven clinical practices, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and structured group therapy.
Patient-Centered Support
Each individual receives a personalized treatment plan designed around their unique mental health needs and goals.
Care Designed for Real Life
Alta Health’s outpatient programs are built to support individuals as they continue working, attending school, and managing daily responsibilities. Our structured schedules and practical skill-building help clients apply what they learn in treatment to real-world situations — promoting lasting well-being beyond sessions.
Core Elements of Effective Panic Disorder Treatment
We provide evidence-based therapies to address both the physical symptoms and psychological symptoms of panic disorder. With evidence-based care, you’ll receive a personalized treatment plan to effectively manage symptoms and improve your daily functioning.
Evidence-Based Therapy for Panic Attacks
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy are common evidence-based options to address panic disorder and panic attacks. CBT helps you recognize negative thought patterns, as well as behaviors and reactions, before and during a panic attack. Through CBT, you’ll learn how to change how you respond to the physical sensations of anxiety and fear from panic.
In addition to CBT, exposure therapy can be an effective treatment option for panic disorder and panic attacks. Exposure therapy can be used to help you confront the fears and negative beliefs that come with your panic disorder symptoms. Through exposure therapy, you can break panic cycles and build more realistic beliefs around the things you fear, to start participating in activities and your life again.
Nervous System Regulation and Symptom Management
During panic attacks, intense fear and anxiety overwhelm your nervous system with physical symptoms like a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and chest pain. However, building coping strategies such as deep breathing and grounding techniques can support nervous system regulation, helping you better manage your physical symptoms.
Personalized Treatment Planning
Our tailored panic disorder treatment can help you navigate your mental health across the spectrum of severity. With a patient-centered approach, we ensure you receive a personalized treatment plan designed around your specific needs and goals. Moreover, our focus on structured, practical skill-building strategies supports real-world integration, helping you recognize and respond to triggers in your daily life.
Group and Individual Therapy Integration
Individual and group psychotherapy integration can be an effective treatment to help you better understand your panic attacks and panic disorder. In individual psychotherapy, you receive individualized care in a comfortable, private setting, with emotional safety, to explore yourself and your challenges without judgment and to build effective coping strategies.
Additionally, peer support in group therapy helps build a support network with peers who are going through the same challenges. Together, you can model healthy behaviors and coping strategies, encourage each other, and feel less alone in your mental health journey.
What to Expect from Daily Life in Treatment
Our outpatient treatment program offers a structured routine to restore balance and hope to your daily life, while maintaining flexibility for life responsibilities. Whether in PHP, IOP, or OP, our outpatient program is designed for accessible, evidence-based care and skill-building for real-world integration that fits into your life.
Structured Yet Flexible Outpatient Programming
- Flexible scheduling for an outpatient program that matches your specific needs and life
- Standard OP: Regular therapy once or twice a week or every other week
- IOP: Regular therapy several times a week
- PHP: Short-term, regular therapy every day of the week or several times a week
- Fits into daily life: live at home, stay connected to family, and maintain responsibilities
Understanding Panic Attack Triggers and Patterns
Psychoeducation provides the foundation for greater awareness and understanding of how panic disorder develops, recognizing anxiety attacks or panic attack symptoms, and building more effective coping strategies to manage triggers and symptoms. Additionally, psychoeducation gives you insight into how panic impairs your daily life, what lifestyle factors contribute to panic, and what lifestyle modifications can help decrease panic without avoidance behaviors.
Practicing Coping Strategies in Real Time
Psychotherapy and exposure therapy teach you how to build coping strategies for panic disorder, phobias, and other anxiety disorders in daily life, such as:
- Deep breathing, grounding techniques, and guided imagery
- Stress management and relaxation techniques
- In vivo exposure: Break avoidance patterns by directly facing a fear
- Imaginal exposure: Reduce anxiety by vividly imagining a fear
- Interoceptive exposure: Build tolerance by inducing harmless physical sensations that mimic anxiety attacks or panic attack symptoms
Applying Skills to Daily Life
You can apply the skills you learn in panic disorder treatment to improve your quality of life:
- Cognitive restructuring: identify and challenge negative thinking patterns for greater independence
- Build tolerance to physical symptoms and reduce safety behaviors to foster confidence
- Mindful practices reduce anxiety and improve focus at work and school
- Grounding reduces anxiety and over-dependence to improve emotional regulation and set healthier boundaries in your relationships
The Journey of Healing starts Today
Treating Panic Disorder and Co-Occurring Conditions
We support low-to-moderate acuity mental health conditions and co-occurring conditions, such as depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety disorders like panic disorder. Whether you’re experiencing intense fear, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, or overwhelm from physical sensations, we can help you regain a sense of control while remaining connected to your daily life.
What Is Panic Disorder?
Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by repeated, unexpected panic attacks. Those panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear, discomfort, and a loss of control, coupled with deeply uncomfortable physical sensations. The physical symptoms of panic attacks can be so distressing that they’re mistaken for a heart attack.
These panic attacks typically occur without warning and even when there is no real danger. For those with panic disorder, panic attacks can happen as frequently as several times a day or as rarely as a few times a year. The unpredictability of the attacks, combined with the distress of psychological and physical symptoms, puts you in a constant state of fear of future panic attacks.
Common Symptoms of Panic Disorder
Symptoms of panic disorder:
- Chest pain, rapid heart rate
- Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath
- Weakness, dizziness
- Fear of being out of control
- Feeling like you’re going to die
- You feel unreal or detached from yourself
Related Anxiety and Mental Health Conditions
Panic disorder can co-occur with other anxiety disorders, other mental health conditions, and medical conditions:
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), agoraphobia, specific phobias
- PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), ADHD
- Depression, bipolar disorder, substance use disorder (SUD)
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), cardiovascular disease, respiratory disorders, thyroid issues
When to Seek Help for Panic Attacks
We understand that it can be difficult to acknowledge when you’re struggling with panic disorder. If you’re struggling with panic attacks, intense fear of having another attack, and feeling isolated from your life and loved ones, it may be time to reach out for support. Signs that you may benefit from a PHP include:
Signs It May Be Time to Seek Support
It may be time to seek help:
- Frequent panic attacks
- Avoiding places, people, and situations that may trigger panic attacks
- Living in fear of another panic attack
- Fear of having a heart attack or dying because of your panic attacks
- Disruption to daily life: impairs the ability to work, attend school, maintain relationships, and enjoy life
The Impact on Daily Functioning and Quality of Life
Fearing another panic attack can make it difficult to go places, leave your home, or spend time with loved ones. Avoidance robs you of your independence if you’re unable to attend work, leave your home, or manage your life. Moreover, these avoidance behaviors can strain your relationship with loved ones, from financial strain and resentment to self-isolation and over-dependence.
Early Intervention and Long-Term Stability
Reaching out for support when you’re struggling with fear and shame can be hard, but early intervention can offer life-changing coping skills to manage symptoms and support lasting wellness. Early intervention can prevent chronic panic, reduce the frequency of panic attacks, break the panic cycle for less avoidance, and reduce the risk of co-occurring disorders. Although anxiety, fear, and shame around panic disorder can make you feel stuck, seeking help gives you a community of support for greater functioning at work, in your relationships, and in your daily life.
Building Long-Term Stability and Emotional Resilience
Learning how to build coping skills is vital to effective treatment for panic disorder, helping break the panic cycle and reduce the severity of panic attacks. We provide tailored, wellness-oriented treatment plans, designed around your specific needs and goals for stability and emotional safety.
Coping Skills for Managing Panic Attacks
CBT and exposure therapy teach you coping skills to manage panic attacks and support well-being:
- Breathing calms you and reduces physical symptoms like difficulty breathing
- Grounding reduces physical sensations and restores control to break through anxiety
- Cognitive restructuring challenges catastrophic thoughts to reduce fear, anxiety, and avoidance
Strengthening Emotional and Physical Awareness
Strategies that strengthen awareness of your emotional and physical symptoms include mindfulness, positive affirmations, and muscle relaxation:
- Mindfulness: reduce stress and build resilience by reconnecting with your body, and accept thoughts and physical sensations without judgment
- Positive affirmations: gain emotional awareness by reducing stress, restoring focus, fostering self-compassion, and reframing negative thought patterns
- Muscle relaxation: increase body awareness of anxiety symptoms by tensing and releasing different muscle groups to reduce anxiety and calm yourself during a panic attack
Changing Thought Patterns That Maintain Anxiety
CBT helps you manage anxiety and reduce panic attacks by recognizing unhelpful thought patterns, replacing negative thoughts, and building skills for behavior change. Building healthy coping skills helps reduce stress, manage anxiety, effectively cope with panic attacks, and overcome avoidance behaviors.
Expanded Support for Lasting Wellness
Our mission is to provide compassionate, evidence-based treatment that fills the gap in mental health care for working adults. With a focus on mental health-only care, we’ve built a personalized treatment program designed to address your specific needs while remaining connected to your daily life.
Psychiatry and Medication Management
When appropriate, medication management under the psychiatric care of healthcare providers can offer a wealth of benefits to panic disorder treatment. The combination of medication and psychotherapy can help reduce the severity and frequency of panic disorder symptoms.
Mindfulness and Stress Reduction Practices
Panic disorder leaves you stuck in danger mode with distressing physical symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath. Mindfulness and stress-reduction practices like deep breathing, grounding techniques, meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation help regulate the nervous system back to a state of calm.
Psychoeducation and Skill Development
Through psychoeducation, you and your loved ones can learn how to better understand panic disorder, the cycle of panic attacks, your triggers, and build coping skills to manage symptoms. With psychoeducation and skill building, you can manage anxiety, reduce avoidance, build positive thought patterns, improve functioning, set healthy boundaries, and strengthen your relationships.
Flexible In-Person and Telehealth Options
Our flexible scheduling and insurance-based outpatient model for in-person treatment allows us to make mental health care accessible for working adults all across Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas. Whether PHP, IOP, or OP, our mental health-only treatment program can be tailored to meet you where you are on your mental health journey.
FAQs
PHP provides more intensive support compared to IOP, which can mimic inpatient care without an overnight stay. People often step down into a PHP after a stay in an inpatient program. PHPs typically have 5-6 hours of treatment per day, 5 days a week. In contrast, an IOP is less intensive, with an average of 3 hours of treatment a day, 3-5 days a week.
Inpatient treatment offers 24/7 medical supervision and is designed to help those in crisis who need constant monitoring. People with severe needs that require medical supervision stabilize first in inpatient treatment, before they step down into other levels of care.
A PHP can help bridge the gap between inpatient residential treatment and intensive outpatient treatment for those in addiction recovery. It offers more intensive care compared to other outpatient programs while still allowing the individual to go home. This helps people in recovery utilize the coping skills they learned in treatment while having access to continued intensive support.
Alta Health does not provide treatment for active substance use disorders, drug addictions, or dual diagnosis. If substance use or co-occurring conditions are identified, our team can assist with a referral and coordination of care with specialized treatment providers.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is commonly used to help our clients manage intense emotions and improve emotional regulation. It’s most often used to help clients manage conditions such as bipolar disorder.
Clients can expect a flexible approach to outpatient treatment that respects their schedules and responsibilities. Outpatient programs provide critical therapies that help clients integrate into normal life while providing professional support. Group therapy, individual therapy, medication management, psychoeducation, skills training, and more are all important parts of an outpatient treatment plan. This allows professionals to provide daily structure, address mental health symptoms, and offer further referrals to care as needed.
Yes, a PHP can assist someone recovering from PTSD and other trauma-based conditions. PHP offers intensive care to clients who need more support than an IOP can provide, but still allows them to go home at the end of the day.
Alta Health offers fully outpatient care. You do not have to begin with inpatient care before stepping down to outpatient care. Many mental health conditions are mild or moderate enough to be addressed solely with outpatient treatment.
Alta Health offers a wide range of evidence-based mental health services and therapies, such as:
- Psychotherapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Group, family, and individual therapy
- Trauma-specific therapy, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- Neurofeedback
- Relaxation techniques, such as meditation and mindfulness
- Psychoeducation and stress management
- Art therapy
No, a PHP is not considered a short-term program. This is because each PHP is highly personalized to each individual. As such, the length of time a person will need care can vary, with some needing long-term support. This is normal, and we encourage those seeking treatment to focus on healing without viewing it like a race. We offer flexible scheduling to help you or your loved one engage in daily responsibilities while receiving care.
Schedules vary by individual, but PHPs typically have 5 to 6 hours of treatment per day, 5 days a week. Clients arrive in the morning and mentally prepare for the day, which can include mindfulness or light movement. Afterward, there is a block of treatment, such as group therapy or individual therapy. There is a break for lunch, and then there is another block of treatment. Each day of PHP ends with a period of reflection or debrief, and afterward, clients go home for the day.
After a PHP is completed, there is an option to step down into a less intensive level of care, such as an IOP or outpatient program. This option is suggested to help individuals gradually return to normal activities while still having access to professional care.