Anxiety treatment serving Hollywood — exposure-based CBT, in-house psychiatry.

Hollywood is 35 miles up I-95 from RECO Health's Delray Beach campus — about 50 minutes outside of rush. Anxiety care here is diagnosis-specific: GAD-7, PDSS, LSAS, or Y-BOCS-driven planning, SSRI pharmacotherapy at anxiety-appropriate doses, and the exposure protocol the diagnosis actually calls for — ERP for OCD, interoceptive exposure for panic, in-vivo exposure for social anxiety. Most Hollywood clients combine PHP with on-site sober living rather than commute daily, so treatment is separated from the environment tied to symptoms.

Hollywood sits roughly 35 miles south of RECO Health’s Delray Beach campus — about 50 minutes north on I-95 outside of rush. Most clients we admit from Hollywood Beach, Emerald Hills, Hollywood Lakes, Hollywood Hills, and Oakwood do not commute daily; they combine partial hospitalization with on-site sober living in Delray so that the drive itself becomes a clinical asset, separating the treatment environment from the routines and cues that reinforce untreated anxiety and any co-occurring substance use.

Disorder-specific assessment before treatment starts

“Anxiety” is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and treatment planning collapses when the two get confused. Intake at RECO uses the GAD-7 to grade generalized anxiety severity, the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) for panic frequency and functional impairment, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) for social anxiety, and the Y-BOCS for obsessive-compulsive symptom burden. A structured psychiatric interview establishes the primary DSM-5-TR diagnosis before any therapeutic protocol is chosen.

The distinction is not academic. Generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and OCD respond to different exposure structures and, in some cases, different first-line medications. Running all four in a generic “anxiety group” is one of the more common reasons a prior treatment episode did not stick. Every RECO plan names the primary diagnosis, the co-occurring conditions being treated, and the outcome measure that will be repeated at defined intervals to demonstrate response.

We screen concurrently for depression (PHQ-9), trauma (PCL-5), attention (ASRS), and — because a meaningful share of our census presents with a co-occurring substance use disorder — apply the ASAM Criteria across all six dimensions to determine the appropriate level of care rather than choosing PHP or IOP by anxiety severity alone.

SSRI pharmacotherapy at anxiety-appropriate doses

Sertraline, escitalopram, paroxetine, and fluoxetine each carry FDA approval for one or more anxiety disorders, and they remain first-line pharmacotherapy alongside disorder-specific psychotherapy. Anxiety-effective dosing typically sits at the upper end of the depression range: sertraline 150-200 mg, escitalopram 20 mg, fluoxetine 40-60 mg for OCD. Titration is deliberately slow in the first two weeks because SSRI activation can transiently increase anxiety and drive early discontinuation if the patient is not coached through it.

Augmentation is matched to the diagnosis. Buspirone is a reasonable add-on for generalized anxiety without meaningful abuse liability. Hydroxyzine, an antihistamine with genuine anxiolytic effect, is available as-needed without the dependence trajectory of a benzodiazepine. Propranolol has a defined role in situational performance anxiety and can be prescribed pro re nata for identified triggers. In OCD that has failed adequate SSRI trials, low-dose antipsychotic augmentation — aripiprazole or risperidone — is considered per APA guidance.

Exposure-based CBT is the therapy that works

For every anxiety disorder, the evidence base points to exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy rather than open-ended supportive talk. Supportive therapy has a place; it is not the mechanism of change for anxiety. RECO’s clinicians run the specific protocol the diagnosis calls for.

For OCD, that means Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): a written hierarchy of feared stimuli, therapist-guided exposures, and blocking of the compulsive response so extinction learning can occur. For panic disorder, interoceptive exposure targets the feared bodily sensations themselves — hyperventilation drills, spinning, breath-holding — paired with cognitive restructuring of catastrophic misinterpretation. For social anxiety, we use graded in-vivo exposures, video-recorded self-review, and behavioral experiments to test predicted negative outcomes.

Group programming — psychoeducation, ACT-informed values clarification, DBT-derived distress tolerance skills for sitting with exposure-induced anxiety — supports the individual exposure work but does not replace it. The mechanism of recovery is the individual protocol; the group is scaffolding.

Why we do not lean on benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines relieve acute anxiety quickly and reliably, which is why they remain in wide outpatient use. Two problems make them a poor fit for the population RECO treats. First, they blunt the fear-extinction learning that makes exposure therapy work; a patient premedicated with lorazepam before an ERP session buys short-term relief at the cost of long-term treatment failure. Second, they carry meaningful risk in clients with any history of substance use disorder — a large share of our census — because tolerance, physiologic dependence, and rebound anxiety are real and predictable.

When situational bridging is genuinely needed, hydroxyzine, gabapentin at anxiolytic doses, or a short course of a low-dose beta-blocker cover most use cases. For alcohol or benzodiazepine detox, withdrawal is managed on our detox unit with a structured taper under CIWA-Ar or benzodiazepine-taper monitoring rather than transitioned to ongoing outpatient benzodiazepine use.

What to expect during your first week

Admission from Hollywood begins with a phone verification of benefits and a clinical pre-screen; medically cleared clients typically arrive at the Delray Beach campus within 24-72 hours. The psychiatric evaluation happens on day one, medications are reconciled, and the treating psychiatrist sets an initial pharmacotherapy plan. If detox is indicated — most commonly for alcohol or benzodiazepines — that begins immediately with continuous CIWA-Ar or COWS monitoring depending on the substance.

Formal anxiety treatment programming begins within the first 48 hours: full assessment battery, primary-therapist assignment, and orientation to the ERP or interoceptive exposure protocol appropriate to the diagnosis. Individual sessions run 2-3 times per week alongside daily group programming. Outcome scales — GAD-7, PDSS, LSAS, or Y-BOCS depending on the diagnosis — are re-administered at defined intervals to demonstrate measurable response rather than subjective improvement alone.

Insurance and admissions from Hollywood

RECO Health is in-network or accepts out-of-network benefits from most major commercial carriers, including Florida Blue, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and BCBS plans. Admissions runs a real-time verification of benefits before any commitment and provides a written estimate of client responsibility — deductible, co-insurance, and expected out-of-pocket cost against the specific level of care — before admission.

The drive from Hollywood is 35 miles up I-95, typically 50 minutes outside of rush and closer to 75-90 minutes at peak. Most PHP and residential clients from Hollywood pair treatment with on-site sober living in Delray rather than commuting daily; IOP clients who do commute are scheduled around the I-95 pattern. Admissions can arrange transportation from Hollywood at the time of intake when needed.

Serving residents of: Hollywood Beach, Emerald Hills, Hollywood Lakes, Hollywood Hills, Oakwood.