Panic attacks are real. And they are no fun. Unpredictable. Unbidden. Certainly, unwanted. They can disrupt our lives without warning and darken our moods for days. In my Delray Beach practice, I see patients frequently in anxiety therapy who have suffered from panic for years. Let me start with some helpful definitions.

When Anxiety Turns Into Panic: Symptoms and Sequence

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort that comes on quickly, often without real danger present. My patients often describe it as their body going into full alarm mode. Common symptoms include a racing or pounding heart, shortness of breath or feeling smothered, chest pain or tightness, dizziness or feeling faint, sweating or shaking, chills, nausea or stomach distress, numbness or tingling, feeling unreal or detached from yourself, and fear of losing control, going crazy, or dying.

What Causes Panic Attacks?

Panic attacks are not dangerous, even though they feel terrifying. They are caused by a sudden spike in the body’s fight-or-flight response, when adrenaline is released unnecessarily. Usually related to “over-thinking”, they can come out of the blue, be triggered by stress, anxiety, caffeine, trauma, or health fears, and usually last minutes, rarely more than 20 to 30 minutes, though people may feel drained afterward.

What is Panic Disorder?

If someone begins worrying a lot about having another attack or changes their behavior to avoid them, this may develop into panic disorder, in which the regular occurrence of these episodes is more frequent. Are there ways to better handle them? Can panic be brought under control? Must one live with the distress of panic attacks lifelong? Yes. Yes. And No.

What Circumstances Cause Panic Attacks to Develop?

Let me illustrate by sharing a vignette. The following story is based on work from my private anxiety therapy practice in downtown Delray Beach, FL. Names, gender, descriptions, and details have all been disguised to keep the person/persons described anonymous. Of course, some details may have been omitted or embellished to make a point. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or situations, past or present, is purely coincidental.

The Impact of Infidelity

Leah is a 40-year-old mother of four. She is also a highly respected gastroenterologist with a bustling practice that employs 33. She was referred to me by one of my most trusted colleagues for help with panic attacks. These had lingered intrusively long after she and her husband, David, had repaired their marriage following an affair he’d had. My colleague, a renowned relationship expert, had skillfully guided them back together after a disastrous season of pain, grief, and anger, and was able to help them put much of the hurt behind them to restore their intimacy. The outcomes of his relationship therapy with them were remarkable.

Leah reported that they’d become better friends than they ever had been and were discovering things about each other that had long remained hidden. They both were able to come to terms with owning their mutual responsibilities in the affair. She admitted she had withdrawn toward her children and her medical practice. And in turn, away from her own needs of intimate connection and closeness.

She stopped caring for herself and gained excessive weight. She dressed down and frequently wore hospital garb to bed. David, lonely and stressed by overworking, had been seduced by an acquaintance from his work. He betrayed Leah, cheated on her, and hurt her. They came to see me together when she started her own work with me, and they shared with me their process.

Healing Through Accountability

I was impressed with their grace and humility as they described their healing. They had loved each other deeply since being high school sweethearts, and it hurt each of them badly that they’d allowed their marriage to falter. David was able to fully own his betrayal decisions and avoided deflection, which served to begin the difficult restoration of her feelings of safety. They both grieved the loss of innocence caused by his betrayal. In flashes during our initial consultation, their pain was evident through their tears. Healing from an affair is always a tough process for any couple, and many fail at it. It is usually a process that can take years, not months, and requires great patience from the couple and expert skill from a therapist.

Can CBT Treat Panic Attacks and Anxiety Symptoms?

Here, I’ll pause because I’d like to share some credit where it’s due. No single strategy or framework has empowered my Delray Beach anxiety therapy practice more than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It remains the gold standard of modern insight-oriented therapies, and I rely on it every day. I’ve learned a lot about CBT, panic, and anxiety from the work of Dr. David Burns, MD. He is a renowned psychiatrist, award-winning researcher, and author, and was a pioneer in the development of cognitive behavioral therapy. His excellent book, When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life, is valuable in the hands of therapists and non-therapists alike. In it, he outlines common thinking failures (distortions) that lead to high anxiety and panic and offers practical solutions. Among them are:

• All-or-Nothing Thinking: “My mind will go blank when I give my presentation at work. Everyone will think I’m an idiot.”
• Fortune Telling: “I just know I’ll freeze up and blow it when I take my test.”
• Mind Reading: “Everyone at this party can see how nervous I am.”
• Magnifications: “Flying is so dangerous. I think this plane is going to crash!”
• Should Statements: “I shouldn’t be so anxious and insecure. Other people don’t feel this way.”
• Self-Blame: “What’s wrong with me? I’m such a loser!”
• Mental Filters: “Why can’t I get anything done? My life seems like one long procrastination.”

In therapy, we examine self-limiting beliefs like this and the behaviors that come from them. These “thinking repairs” were fundamental in Leah’s work with me to get her anxiety under control and reduce panic episodes.

Do Intrusive Thoughts Cause Panic Attacks?

Long after she and David grew closer, Leah had been plagued by intrusive thoughts and images of his affair partner. She’d awaken from sound sleep in cold sweats and feelings of dread and gloom. She was literally “seeing a movie” of his betrayal and couldn’t get it to stop. She was exhausted.

During our therapy sessions, we focused on some of Leah’s negative beliefs about herself. Important distortions emerged when she became self-critical. Leah often used “should” statements: “I shouldn’t be so anxious and insecure. Other people don’t feel this way.” She also related to a lot of self-blame: “What’s wrong with me? I’m such a loser!” Leah had been victimized by her husband’s betrayal. Healing her thoughts and feelings would take time.

Fundamental to Leah’s work was restoring her sense of “being in her body”. We used a number of “grounding” practices to get her started. Bringing her focus to her breath helped her to come into the present moment more fully and out of her busy, fearful thoughts. Awareness exercises involved mindfully focusing on her senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. They are all “present sensory modalities” that have the power to shift consciousness away from past regret and future worries and into the calm and healing present moment. We also used Leah’s power of imagination to her advantage in reducing the persistence of the unwanted images of her husband’s affair partner.

A Holistic Approach to Treating Panic and Anxiety

We employed the NLP Swish Pattern, which is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique to replace unwanted habits or behaviors and erase unwanted negative imagery. It works by disrupting old neural pathways and installing new ones, making more desirable behaviors the natural default when triggers appear.

These holistic approaches were hugely helpful for Leah. Her first experiences with them brought a smile to her worn face, and she reported that her moods had lifted. The nightmares stopped, and she reported feeling more capable of “wiping away” thoughts and images that had troubled her. This is the power of anxiety therapy. Leah found this an excellent “companion work” that complemented her relationship counseling work that was ongoing with David.

From Panic to Peace: Final Thoughts From an Anxiety Therapist in Delray Beach

If you or someone you love is struggling with panic, get help. Traumatic experiences like infidelity can overwhelm our capacity to cope and leave behind negative impressions that surface as anxiety and panic. It can be liberating to ask for help.

An anxiety therapist can show you how to create new paths to satisfying adult health and bring fresh success to difficult relationships. Therapy is a wise investment and may take time, but the payoff can be priceless.

I would love to help. Call or text me at 561-213-8030 or email me at jdlmhc@gmail.com for a consultation.

Learn How to Overcome Panic Attacks Through Anxiety Therapy in Delray Beach

If panic attacks are disrupting your sense of safety or leaving you fearful of when the next one might happen, anxiety therapy can help you regain control. Many people seek therapy not just to stop panic symptoms, but to understand why their body reacts so intensely. And how to calm it effectively.

When panic attacks go untreated, they can reinforce fear, avoidance, and a constant state of alertness that makes daily life feel unpredictable. Anxiety therapy offers a structured, supportive environment to identify the underlying causes of panic and learn evidence-based techniques that reduce both the intensity and frequency of attacks. At my counseling practice in Delray Beach, FL, I help clients move beyond symptom management by developing tools that restore confidence, emotional balance, and a sense of safety in their own bodies.

Here’s how anxiety therapy can help you move forward:

• 1. Understand what’s driving your panic attacks in a calm, judgment-free therapeutic space. Schedule a consultation to begin treatment.
• 2. Learn proven strategies to regulate your nervous system, manage panic symptoms, and reduce fear with guidance from an experienced anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, FL.
• 3. Rebuild trust in yourself and your body so panic no longer controls your choices or limits your life.

Other Services With John Davis Counseling in Delray Beach

Panic attacks can steal your peace, leaving you on edge at every turn. Anxiety therapy can help you understand panic attacks at their source and reduce the fear that often surrounds them. With effective treatment, many clients experience fewer panic episodes, greater confidence in their ability to cope, and a renewed sense of safety in their daily lives.

Because panic attacks are often connected to broader patterns of anxiety, stress, or unresolved trauma, treatment is most effective when it addresses the whole picture. In addition to panic-focused anxiety therapy, my Delray Beach practice offers trauma-informed counseling, relationship therapy, couples therapy, grief and loss support, addiction treatment, and care for individuals navigating ADHD/ADD, chronic impulsivity, spiritual concerns, and narcissistic personality dynamics.

Every treatment plan is carefully tailored to your history, triggers, and goals. I use an integrative, evidence-based approach that may include CBT, EMDR, Gestalt therapy, mindfulness-based strategies, psychodrama, or clinical hypnosis—chosen to calm the nervous system, reduce panic responses, and build lasting emotional resilience.

My goal is to help you regain trust in your body, strengthen coping skills, and restore a sense of calm and stability over time. I invite you to explore my blog for additional mental health resources or contact my Delray Beach office to schedule a consultation when you’re ready to begin therapy.

About the Author

John Davis, LMHC, is an experienced anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, FL, who specializes in helping individuals overcome panic attacks and persistent anxiety. He works with adults, couples, and families to understand how anxiety patterns form over time and how they impact confidence, daily functioning, and emotional stability. With a strong background in child and family therapy, John brings a developmental perspective to panic treatment—recognizing how early stress responses can evolve into adult anxiety and panic symptoms.

His approach to anxiety therapy is trauma-informed and integrative, incorporating evidence-based modalities such as CBT, EMDR, Gestalt therapy, mindfulness practices, psychodrama, and clinical hypnosis. John focuses on helping clients uncover the underlying triggers of panic attacks, reduce avoidance behaviors, regulate the nervous system, and build practical tools that restore a sense of safety and control. In addition to his clinical work, he serves as Executive Director of the Mental Health Counselors’ Association of Palm Beach, is a recipient of the Outstanding Community Service Award, and is featured as an expert therapist on StayMarriedFlorida.com. Through his practice, John remains committed to helping clients move from fear and unpredictability toward steadiness and resilience—one session at a time.