Disorders treated

• Anxiety symptoms

Fear is the emotional response to an imminent threat, anxiety is the anticipation of a future threat, and distress is an anxiety without an object.
Anxiety can be adaptive in that it prompts us to worry about a real danger or what will happen in our future. However, an excessive share of anxiety can become pathological and appear in the form of symptoms such as panic attacks (with or without agoraphobia), generalized anxiety, various phobias and social phobia, obsessions, compulsions; manifesting itself on a psychological and physical level through palpitations, sweating, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, and insomnia.

• Affective disorders

Such as depression (chronic, reactive, anxious) and mood fluctuations.
Depression can be chronic, reactive (i.e., resulting from a particular event) or anxious (i.e., related to anxious symptoms) in nature. The depressive episode is characterized by the presence of deep sadness and a feeling of feeling “empty.” There is less interest, pleasure and motivation to perform daily activities, and there may be changes in weight and sleep. Lack of energy and excessive feelings of guilt and self-evaluation, memory lapses, difficulty concentrating, indecision, and even recurrent thoughts of death may be experienced.
Bipolar disorder also falls within affective disorders, and involves a fluctuation between a depressive mood and a mood, on the contrary, that is very high, with related increases in energy, self-esteem, school or work performance, and a decreased need for sleep.

• Posttraumatic stress disorder

Occurs when the person has been exposed to an event that is potentially traumatic for her (actual death of another person, death threat, severe lesson, sexual assault), i.e., she has felt to be beyond her coping resources. It is accompanied by intrusive and unpleasant memories or dreams related to the event, dissociative reactions, psychological and physical distress resulting from coming into contact with internal or external stimuli symbolizing the event, negative alterations in thoughts and emotions (such as inability to remember, negative expectations about oneself or others, feelings of detachment, reduced interest, etc.).

• Sexual disorders and dysfunctions

They affect both the female and male genders, and are of interest manifested through symptoms concerning the reproductive system, desire, or arousal. On the female side we find frigidity and pain during intercourse, on the male side impotence or premature ejaculation. They do not allow one to experience a fulfilling sexuality and often constitute only the “tip of the iceberg” of relationship difficulties or personal problems.

• Hypochondria

Characterized by concern about having or contracting a certain disease, it is fostered by bringing attention to some minor physiological sensations or physical symptoms, magnifying their magnitude. It gives rise to exaggerated activation behaviors in monitoring one’s health (e.g., excessive medical checkups) or, conversely, maladaptive avoidance.

• Eating disorders

The main eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In the former, there is excessive preoccupation with weight loss, to the point of being below the minimum expected weight for age and stature. A high fear of gaining weight is present, and weight loss is related to increased self-esteem. In the second, however, recurrent binges are resorted to in which one can no longer control what one is eating. These are followed by compensatory behaviors, to lose weight, such as self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives or diuretics, intense exercise, fasting.

• Psychosomatic disorders

Where distress cannot be contained in the mental sphere, it spills over into the body, generating real diseases affecting one or more organs, which are called “functional” because they do not recognize an organic cause. The most commonly affected systems are gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal.

• Psychotic disorders

These are disorders that impair a person’s examination of reality, and the person begins to develop thought disorders such as hallucinations and delusions. The person’s psychological balance is altered, and the causes may be genetic, biological or environmental.

• Addiction or substance abuse

Substance dependence involves excessive and continuous use of a substance (usually alcohol or drugs). If it produces physical dependence, the person may develop both tolerance and withdrawal toward the substance. In both physical and psychological dependence, the person cannot control his or her use of the substance, so he or she may go so far as to waste a lot of resources (time and money).
Substance abuse, on the other hand, involves the continued use of substances that do not produce addiction but negatively affect performance in the person’s life domains (work, social, family, etc.).

• Self-esteem problems

They may involve a lack of confidence in oneself, others and one’s future, an inability to pursue goals suited to one’s resources and aspirations, and a tendency to depend on others to define oneself, one’s values, abilities and plans.

• Relational difficulties

They concern a set of generally temporary sufferings that result from dysfunctional communications, interactions, and sometimes even ties, which affect the cognitive and emotional-affective sphere-and thus the psychophysical well-being-of the individual.

• Personality disorders

Such as bipolar disorder, narcissistic disorder, addictive disorder, etc.
A personality disorder is a set of thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and emotional-affective responses that a person habitually uses to relate to himself or herself and the world around him or her, but which cause him or her psychological distress, relational difficulties, and less ability to adapt to his or her environment.

• Character rigidity

Character is the set of psychic characteristics that characterize an individual and show stability and continuity over time. Sometimes it may happen that a person develops particularly rigid psychic characteristics over time, creating what might be called a “character armor” with related psychological symptoms, which expresses that individual’s way of functioning. While it serves the latter to cope with the frustrating and painful experiences of life, on the other hand, however, this “armor” risks “caging” and limiting him or her in his or her expansive and vital movement. The “armor” protects against distress but limits pleasure, which only follows from the free flow of energy.