Intensive Treatment Options for Panic Disorder and Anxiety at MCG

Intensive Treatment Options for Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, OCD, and certain types of Phobias

 

What is an intensive Treatment program?

An intensive psychotherapy treatment program is a highly specialized form of therapy for people with specific problems. Treatment sessions are typically several hours per day for 1-10 days. At MCG, we can treat the following disorders via intensive treatment options like:

  • Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia with Panic Disorder, & OCD (typically 5-10 days)

  • Specific Phobias, such as heights, driving, flights, injections, certain animals and insects, blood draws, enclosed spaces, etc. (typically 5 days)

  • Specific Phobias, such as heights, flights, and certain animals and insects (One Session Treatment, typically 5-8 hours)

Clients arrive in Boston at Logan International Airport on a Sunday to settle in their accommodations. Treatment typically starts on a Monday and is completed in 1 day for the One Session Treatment (OST) or 5-10 days. Treatment length is tailored to the individual needs of each client. Work with a specialist occurs the majority of the time (about 12-30 hours; 5-8 hours for the OST), though there is considerable out-of-session treatment focused on therapy assignments during your stay.

Our goal is to have our clients achieve the ability to self-direct or design their own exposures independent of the therapist by the conclusion of treatment. Successful treatment requires your willingness to experience short-term anxiety and panic. We are specialists and will help you through it every step of the way.

Who doesn’t benefit?

At MCG, we screen each potential client prior to determine which treatment(s) may be most effective for you.

In some cases, we may determine that an intensive treatment option is not indicated. Certain co-morbid conditions make these treatment options inadvisable or at least would significantly adversely impact the treatment, making the intensive treatment less effective (in the best-case scenario) or ineffective (in the worst-case scenario). We strongly recommend you speak with your medical and/or mental health providers prior to starting our intensive treatment options. For reference, examples of these comorbid conditions include, but are not limited to:

  • psychotic symptoms

  • active suicidality

  • use of certain medications, drugs, or excessive alcohol intake

  • difficulties with comprehension/understanding

  • severe depression or medical issues that limit your activity levels

  • or, other medical problems that require treatment or stabilization first.

At MCG, we complete diagnostic assessments on each of our clients to determine which program(s) and treatment(s) are appropriate for you. Our determination might result in recommending effective, less expensive treatments for these disorders, such as standard forms of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Standard CBT treatment for these disorders is conducted on a weekly or biweekly basis over a period of three or four months. Please note that these standard treatment options are available to you and are typically as effective as the intensive treatment options, even if you are appropriate for an intensive option.

The successful client is expected to travel to our offices for the duration of treatment. The successful client is willing to experience considerable short-term anxiety & panic symptoms during the course of treatment. The successful client is also medically stable. These three points are essential and cannot be emphasized enough. But don’t be alarmed! We are specialists and will help you through it every step of the way.

Why do you offer these intensive treatment options?

We designed our intensive treatment options for people who:

  • do not have access to other forms of treatment

  • have not responded to other treatment options, like weekly therapy

  • have time constraints/busy schedule

  • want to experience rapid change and progress

  • or, prefer the effectiveness of a very time-limited intensive treatment option

Costs Associated with Intensive Treatment Options

The cost of an assessment and treatment for the various treatment options are:

  • $2,000 for the 1-day intensive treatment, the One Session Treatment of certain phobias. The most commonly treated phobias at MCG are fear of flying, followed by fear of birds/dogs, and followed by fear of snakes.

  • $3,000 for a 5-day intensive treatment. The cost is pro-rated for each day over 5 days.

A nonrefundable deposit of 20% of this fee must be paid in advance at the time of scheduling.  The remaining balance is payable at the start of the first day of treatment or can be spread out using CareCredit.

Treatment may require additional fees that are necessary for the successful provision of treatment, such as transportation (e.g. parking, cars, buses), admission fees, etc. You are not responsible for any required additional fees involving the therapist. For example, if the treatment requires eating at a restaurant, the therapist will cover their own costs.

While we do not accept insurance for these intensive treatment options, we will support you in seeking reimbursement from your insurance company. We cannot guarantee you will receive reimbursement from your insurance company.

Accommodations

Unfortunately, we do not provide accommodations for those coming from a distance far from our offices. We can assist you with reservations with enough notice. Click the button below for a list of local hotel accommodations near MCG. We also recommend you search Airbnb and other rental sites.

Getting Started

These programs entail considerable out-of-pocket costs. We therefore are thorough and careful in our assessment to ensure that you are a good fit before recommending an intensive treatment option. The assessment entails several steps, that begin by completing our screening. Click the button below to start that process.