---
title: "Panic Attack Therapy in Florida | McFadden Institute"
url: https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/specialties/panic-attacks
description: "Online therapy in Florida for panic attacks and the fear of the next one. Working with the alarm itself, not just riding it out. Robert Cushing, LCSW."
lang: en
---

Image: Sunrise rays fanning out from behind a single low cloud over the Gulf (https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/__l5e/assets-v1/ae974b05-14a9-4d54-91e9-8e2f1755ecff/sunrise-cloud.jpg)

Specialties

# Panic Attacks

A panic attack can feel like your body has decided, all at once, that you're in danger. Then comes the second problem: waiting for the next one.

Book a free consultation: https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/contact
How RRT works: https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/approach

## What this looks like

Your heart races and your breath goes short out of nowhere.

You plan your day around places you might not be able to leave.

You scan your body for the first sign it's starting again.

## How Rapid Resolution Therapy approaches it

Rather than only teaching you to ride out each attack, RRT works with the alarm that keeps firing.

We stay steady and conversational the whole way. You set the pace.

## What an attack can feel like

Pounding heart. Tight chest. Tingling hands. A wave of heat, or cold. The sense that you might faint, or lose control, or that something is badly wrong. It can peak within minutes and leave you wrung out for hours.

People who have never had one tend to say, just calm down. If only. Panic isn't a thought you can talk yourself out of. It's the same alarm behind everyday anxiety (https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/specialties/anxiety), turned all the way up.

## Get the physical side checked first

Panic symptoms overlap with real medical problems, including heart and thyroid issues. Please see a doctor before assuming it's panic, particularly if the symptoms are new, if they come with chest pain, or if anything about them feels different. If a doctor has checked you and says your body is fine, that's often the moment people start looking at therapy.

## When the fear of the next one takes over

For many people the attacks themselves become less of a problem than the watching and waiting. You stop driving on the interstate. You sit near the door in meetings. You skip the grocery store at busy times, and then at any time. Your world gets smaller one reasonable-seeming decision at a time.

That avoidance makes sense. It also teaches the alarm that those places really were dangerous, which keeps the cycle going.

## Working with the alarm itself

Coping tricks, like slow breathing, help you get through an attack. I'm glad if you have them. But they work on the wave, not on whatever is producing the waves. RRT aims at what the mind is still treating as an emergency, so the alarm has less reason to go off.

I'm also trained in CBT (https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/approach/cbt), which has practical tools for panic, such as noticing the thoughts that pour fuel on the first flutter. I'll draw on those where they fit. There's no worksheet pile.

## What a session is like

Sessions run 90 minutes by video, from your own space in Florida. That length gives us room to work without watching the clock. You can read more about how a 90-minute session works (https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/approach/90-minute-sessions). If a spike comes up mid-session, we slow down and handle it together.

## Getting your world back

The goal isn't to make you brave enough to white-knuckle the highway. It's for the alarm to have less reason to go off, so the places you've been avoiding stop feeling like threats. People tend to take those places back one at a time, at their own pace. Nobody is going to push you onto the interstate before you're ready. There's a plain-language guide to that alarm in fight, flight or freeze, explained (https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/resources/fight-flight-freeze).

The attack ends. The fear of the next one is what moves in.

## Questions people ask

### Should I see a doctor first?

Yes, especially if your symptoms are new or include chest pain or trouble breathing. A doctor can rule out physical causes. Therapy can then run alongside whatever medical care you need.

### What if I have a panic attack during a session?

Then we deal with it together. You're in your own space, we slow down, and we adjust what we're doing. Nobody is going to rush you.

### Do I need to know why they happen?

No. Many people have no idea what started them. We can work with how the panic shows up now without first solving where it came from.

Not sure if what you're carrying fits here?

A free 15-minute call is the simplest way to find out.

Book a free consultation: https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/contact

Rapid Resolution Therapy is a therapeutic approach, not a guarantee of specific results and not a substitute for medical care. Every person's experience is different and individual outcomes vary.

Back to home: https://mcfaddeninstitute.com/

Free consultation · no pressure

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