Evidence-Based Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Indianapolis for Anxiety, OCD & ADHD
Sommer Psychology Group provides evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Indianapolis for young adults and adults. CBT helps you understand the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors so you can change patterns that feel stuck or overwhelming.
Our licensed therapists use CBT to treat anxiety, OCD, ADHD, and related challenges, focusing on practical tools that improve daily functioning, emotional regulation, and quality of life. We offer in-person CBT therapy in Indianapolis and secure online sessions across Indiana for flexible, effective care.
- I get stuck in the same thoughts over and over, and I can’t shut them off.
- My feelings of restlessness never seem to stop.
- I’m constantly second-guessing myself, my actions, and even my memories.
- Everything feels urgent and I can't tolerate uncertainty.
- I spend so much time on mental or physical routines that I constantly feel exhausted.
- I feel isolated and ashamed, like no one would understand what I’m going through.
- I feel anxious and uncertain about my future.
- I feel like everything needs to be perfect, all the time
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured, goal-oriented therapy that helps individuals understand how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected.
When someone experiences anxiety, OCD, or trauma-related stress, patterns of thinking and behavior can develop that unintentionally reinforce fear and distress. For example, individuals may:
- Assume the worst-case scenario in uncertain situations
- Avoid situations that trigger anxiety
- Become stuck in cycles of worry or rumination
- Engage in behaviors meant to reduce distress that actually maintain it
Cognitive behavioral therapy helps individuals learn how to identify these patterns and develop healthier ways of responding to difficult thoughts and emotions.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Indianapolis
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Like?
Many individuals appreciate that CBT therapy is practical and focused on developing actionable skills. During CBT therapy sessions, clients may:
- Explore patterns of thinking that contribute to anxiety or distress
- Learn strategies for challenging unhelpful beliefs
- Develop coping tools for managing anxiety and stress
- Practice behavioral strategies to reduce avoidance
- Build confidence navigating difficult situations
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Build confidence tolerating uncertainty and discomfort
CBT for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder is commonly treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that targets the thoughts and behaviors that maintain anxiety in social situations. This condition involves an intense fear of being judged, embarrassed, or negatively evaluated by others, often leading to avoidance of social interactions or enduring them with significant distress.
In CBT, individuals learn that these fears are often driven by unhelpful thinking patterns, such as overestimating how negatively others will judge them or assuming that visible signs of anxiety (like blushing or shaking) will lead to rejection. These thoughts can increase anxiety and reinforce avoidance, which may provide short-term relief but prevents opportunities to learn that feared outcomes are often unlikely or manageable.
Treatment focuses on gradually facing feared social situations while reducing “safety behaviors” such as avoiding eye contact, over-rehearsing what to say, or seeking reassurance. Through guided practice and cognitive restructuring, individuals begin to test and revise their beliefs about social situations. Over time, this helps reduce anxiety, build confidence, and develop more balanced, realistic expectations about how others perceive them.
As a result, they often avoid social interactions whenever possible. When faced with social situations they can’t avoid, they may experience physical symptoms like a racing heart, sweating, shaking, blushing, dizziness, or even full-blown panic attacks. Social anxiety can significantly interfere with everyday activities, including school, work, or maintaining relationships.
CBT for Perfectionism
CBT for Panic Attacks & Panic Disorder
Panic Disorder and recurrent panic attacks are commonly treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that targets the cycle of fear that maintains panic. Panic attacks involve sudden surges of intense physical symptoms—such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, or chest tightness—often accompanied by catastrophic thoughts like “I’m going to faint,” “I’m losing control,” or “Something is seriously wrong.”
In CBT, individuals learn that these physical sensations, while uncomfortable, are not dangerous. Panic is often maintained by misinterpreting normal bodily sensations as threatening, which increases fear and intensifies the symptoms. This can lead to ongoing worry about future attacks and avoidance of situations where panic might occur.
Treatment focuses on breaking this cycle by changing both thoughts and behaviors. A key component is interoceptive exposure, where individuals safely and gradually bring on feared physical sensations (such as increased heart rate or dizziness) to learn that they are tolerable and not harmful. In addition, individuals practice entering avoided situations without relying on safety behaviors. Through cognitive restructuring and repeated exposure, people learn to reinterpret bodily sensations more accurately, reduce fear of panic itself, and regain confidence in their ability to cope. Over time, this leads to fewer and less intense panic attacks, and less avoidance in daily life.
When someone becomes overly focused on the possibility of experiencing future panic attacks and begins to fear them, they may be diagnosed with panic disorder. Many individuals with panic disorder also begin avoiding public or unfamiliar places where they fear having an attack and not being able to get help, this pattern of avoidance is referred to as agoraphobia.
CBT for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is commonly treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that targets excessive and persistent worry. GAD involves frequent, hard-to-control worry about a range of everyday topics (such as health, work, finances, or relationships), often accompanied by physical symptoms like restlessness, muscle tension, and difficulty concentrating.
In CBT, individuals learn that worry is often driven by attempts to anticipate and prevent negative outcomes, along with beliefs such as “worrying helps me stay prepared” or “I won’t be able to cope if something goes wrong.” While worry may feel useful in the moment, it tends to increase anxiety over time and keep individuals focused on worst-case scenarios.
Treatment focuses on changing both the patterns of thinking and the behaviors that maintain worry. This may include identifying and challenging unhelpful beliefs about uncertainty and control, as well as practicing strategies to relate differently to worry (such as setting aside dedicated “worry time” or learning to let worries pass without engaging with them). Behavioral techniques help individuals gradually face uncertainty rather than avoid it. Over time, this process reduces the intensity and frequency of worry, increases tolerance for uncertainty, and helps individuals feel more present and in control of their thinking.
CBT for Specific Phobias
Specific phobias are commonly treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that focuses on reducing intense fear of particular objects or situations (such as heights, animals, flying, or needles). Individuals with specific phobias often experience immediate anxiety when encountering the feared stimulus and may go to great lengths to avoid it.
In CBT, individuals learn that while the fear feels very real, it is often driven by an overestimation of danger and an underestimation of their ability to cope. Avoidance can provide short-term relief, but it prevents the person from learning that the feared outcome is unlikely or manageable, which keeps the phobia strong over time.
Treatment primarily involves gradual, repeated exposure to the feared object or situation in a safe and controlled way. This is often done step-by-step, starting with less anxiety-provoking situations and building up over time. As individuals face their fears without avoiding or escaping, their anxiety naturally decreases, and they gain confidence in their ability to cope. Cognitive strategies may also be used to challenge exaggerated fears. Over time, this process helps reduce the intensity of the fear response and allows individuals to engage more freely in everyday activities.
People with specific phobias will often go out of their way to avoid encountering their feared object or situation, even if it interferes with daily life, work, or relationships. Some commonly used terms for specific phobias include emetophobia (fear of vomiting), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), and trypophobia (aversion to clusters of holes or patterns).
CBT for Trauma & PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and trauma-related difficulties are often treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that helps individuals process and respond differently to distressing memories and triggers. Trauma can lead to persistent re-experiencing symptoms (such as intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares), avoidance of reminders, negative changes in thoughts and mood, and heightened arousal (such as feeling constantly on edge).
In CBT, individuals learn that many of these reactions are understandable responses to overwhelming events, but that patterns like avoidance and unhelpful beliefs (e.g., “I’m not safe anywhere” or “It was my fault”) can keep the distress going. Avoidance may provide short-term relief, but it prevents the brain from fully processing the trauma and learning that the danger is no longer present.
Treatment focuses on gradually approaching trauma-related memories, thoughts, and situations in a safe and supported way, while also identifying and reshaping unhelpful beliefs. Through techniques such as cognitive restructuring and trauma-focused exposure, individuals can begin to process what happened, reduce the intensity of emotional reactions, and regain a sense of safety and control. Over time, this helps the brain distinguish between past and present, making reminders of the trauma feel less overwhelming and easier to manage.
CBT for Anxiety related to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Anxiety related to ADHD is commonly treated using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured, evidence-based approach that addresses the interaction between attention difficulties, daily challenges, and anxious thinking. Individuals with ADHD often experience anxiety as a result of chronic stressors—such as forgetfulness, disorganization, missed deadlines, or inconsistent performance—which can lead to worries about falling behind, letting others down, or not meeting expectations.
In CBT, individuals learn to recognize how these experiences can shape unhelpful thought patterns, such as “I’m always messing things up” or “I won’t be able to handle this.” These thoughts can increase anxiety and lead to avoidance, procrastination, or overcompensating behaviors, which may further reinforce both ADHD-related difficulties and stress.
Treatment focuses on building practical skills alongside cognitive strategies. This may include developing systems for organization, time management, and task initiation, while also identifying and challenging unhelpful beliefs about competence and failure. Behavioral techniques—such as breaking tasks into manageable steps, using reminders, and practicing more consistent routines—help reduce overwhelm and increase a sense of control. Over time, this approach helps individuals feel more capable in managing daily demands, which in turn reduces anxiety and builds confidence.
How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Help
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is widely recognized as one of the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders.
Individuals with anxiety often become caught in cycles of worry, avoidance, or fear-based thinking that reinforce distress. CBT therapy helps individuals learn how to:
- Recognize patterns of anxious thinking
- Challenge catastrophic or unrealistic beliefs
- Reduce avoidance behaviors
- Improve relationships, work performance, and daily functioning
- Build resilience when uncertainty or discomfort arises
- Develop practical coping strategies for anxiety maintenance
By addressing both thoughts and behaviors, CBT helps individuals break cycles that keep anxiety going.
Our Approach
How Our CBT Works
Our clinicians use CBT in a collaborative and structured way that focuses on helping individuals build meaningful change.
We begin with an intake session where we complete a comprehensive evaluation to understand your experiences with anxiety, attention, and daily challenges. This helps identify the patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and habits that may be contributing to distress and maintaining difficulties over time.
Together, we develop a structured CBT treatment plan that begins with psychoeducation about anxiety and how CBT works to help manage it. You’ll learn how anxious thoughts and behaviors can maintain distress and how changing these patterns can reduce symptoms. The plan includes identifying specific triggers, challenging unhelpful thoughts, and developing practical skills to face challenges. Therapy progresses at a pace that feels manageable while empowering you with tools for lasting change.
You’ll learn evidence-based CBT strategies to manage anxious thoughts, improve focus, and reduce avoidance or procrastination. This includes building more balanced thinking patterns, developing problem-solving skills, and practicing new behaviors in daily life. Over time, these tools help increase confidence, reduce stress, and support long-term emotional well-being.
ABOUT US
Why Work With Sommer Psychology Group
We understand that life can sometimes feel overwhelming—whether it’s managing anxiety, balancing responsibilities, or facing the fear of the unknown. As CBT specialists who work with individuals who struggle with anxiety, OCD, and related disorders, we aim to help you find your way forward.
Our approach is solutions-focused and evidence-based, designed to meet your unique needs and help you achieve lasting change. Whether you’re dealing with stress, life transitions, or relationship challenges, we are dedicated to giving you the tools to overcome obstacles and thrive.
At Sommer Psychology Group, we believe in the power of quality care. That means giving you dedicated, thoughtful, and individualized support, with the flexibility of virtual sessions that fit into your life, wherever you are.
Our evidence-based therapy is grounded in three core principles:
Integrity
We believe integrity is the foundation of effective therapy. It fosters trust, respect, and accountability, ensuring our clients receive honest, consistent, and ethical guidance throughout their journey.
Compassion
Compassion is at the heart of our practice. It nurtures emotional healing, creating a safe space where clients can feel heard, valued, and understood while developing a culture of collaboration and respect.
Quality Care
We prioritize quality care to ensure the best outcomes for our clients. By addressing both clinical needs and emotional well-being, we build trust and deliver effective therapy that supports long-term growth and success.
Meet Our CBT Therapists
At Sommer Psychology Group, our clinicians provide evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to support individuals experiencing anxiety, OCD, and related disorder challenges. We focus on comprehensive, personalized care that includes assessment, treatment, and practical skill-building to help you better understand your thoughts, manage emotions, and change unhelpful patterns.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in indianapolis
Questions About CBT
Can anxiety and OCD be treated with CBT?
How does CBT help stop anxiety from interfering with my life?
What causes anxiety and OCD, and how does CBT address it?
Why can’t I just relax or think my way out of anxiety?
How long does CBT therapy take to work?
Have More Questions?
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