Welcome to my blog! Here you’ll find my latest blogs as well as videos!
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www.patricktullytherapy.com/publications
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So many of us struggle with different forms of anxiety. We might worry about our relationship or our future. We might have trouble in social situations. We might have a severe fear of bugs or heights. Anxiety manifests itself in many different ways, many different days.
Those of us in the LGTBQ+ community know how much anxiety is often a force in our lives. But what you may not know is that anxiety’s cause isn’t always clear, and sometimes, the cause may be something you did not expect.
One of the best examples, and one that I personally love, comes from Flourish Psychology in Brooklyn, a private practice in NYC with therapists that specializes in anxiety and eating disorders. They wrote about how anxiety, quite literally, can be caused by underdeveloped butt muscles.
Yes, it’s true. It may not be common, and anxiety is often far more complex than just “back and butt muscles,” but it is absolutely true that something as simple as our breathing habits – habits that can be caused by poorly developed posterior muscles – can be enough to trigger anxiety and panic attacks.
During our sessions, we’re going to find ourselves frequently exploring some of the past. We’re going to try to see if there are any traumas that may have contributed to your anxiety, or any behaviors that may play a role. We’re going to try to explore very deep topics that we hope will help us find out more about what may have led to some of your anxiety and mental health challenges.
We may find many reasons that make perfect sense why you have anxiety. But we also may find nothing. And that’s okay. It doesn’t matter if your anxiety is caused by past trauma, or by bullying, or by feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. It also doesn’t matter if your anxiety is caused by genetics, nor does it matter if your anxiety is caused by not doing enough squats.
What matters is that anxiety is treatable, and while we may explore the “inner you,” we will also know that there are therapies, like CBT, that can be used to ensure that you’re able to better address anxiety no matter its cause.
My name is Patrick Tully, and I would like to help you with your anxiety. As a therapist, I know that anxiety is treatable. It doesn’t matter if it’s your back muscles, your upbringing, or something else – together, we can help treat anxiety and help you find some relief from your symptoms. Contact me today to learn more.
I am a supporter of creatives in therapy and have a creative background. I have worked with Debra and she has supported me in my business and my creative endeavors.
Debra De Liso is a renowned actor, dramaturg, director, writer, teacher, and great mentor to me. She has created hundreds of one person shows and has worked at USC for many years and has had her own business.
I am absolutely thrilled that she is announcing an online-based solo performance workshop that is very personalized.
The $300 course fee includes:
-4 three-hour online sessions
-6 instructional videos
-Weekly writing prompts
-Technical and creative tools
-The “Physicalization of a Role” as a path for the writer
-Inspiring encouragement
-Personalized dramaturgical coaching
-Insights from online classmates
-Staging ideas and coaching
-Links to solo performances
-A field trip to a solo play (if you are in L.A.)
-Your own autobiographical script in just four weeks!
Let Debra know you are interested soon by emailing her at debradeliso@gmail.com
Speaking of this foray into online learning, Debra said: “I’m excited about this new launch. During the pandemic, I taught Solo Performance (and even Improv) to my students using Zoom. The playscripts became short film scripts, and I guided the students to direct their own short films.”
I am thrilled Debra is doing this. She pours her passion into everything and everyone is lucky to meet her and I was one of those people. Debra doesn’t have a big ego, and I felt so blessed to become not only a student but also a friend of hers. So I’m very happy to support her in her journey.
This interactive journey is very helpful for mental health, and I will always support Debra and her supportive atmosphere. She has always been a supporter of my practice, and I deeply appreciate her for that.
“With this new online class, our specific writing sessions and my intuitive directing style, we will discover what you have within you—live theatre, film, maybe a novel, TV series or even a stand-up set. I will follow your intuition and see what medium will best support the sharing of the work you create.”
The stigma of using injectables such as Botox and other injectables is decreasing as more and more people embrace the wonderful ways these can help anyone feel better about themselves. It is less about changing ourselves but about being able to embrace our true selves, and easily feel like our authentic selves. That may seem paradoxical, but many times our inner appearance, regardless of age does not match our outward appearance. Even when the procedures just do a tiny bit to perhaps enhance outward appearance and do not necessarily match inward with outward, the boost these procedures can bring can be very special!
Young adults can benefit from feeling this boost, and it has nothing to do with feeling younger. When I received procedures, I enjoyed how less tired I looked. Whether it’s through surgery, filler, Botox, or non-plastic surgery means, we deserve to feel good about ourselves.
I am writing this blog because I feel there needs to be less stigma. I also wanted to share about a place that was very inclusive in terms of using an intake system that was inclusive regarding pronouns and gender, like my intake system.
The benefits of Botox have been considerable and so many people have taken advantage of it, including myself. It’s wonderful that this procedure is one of the many procedures now available, and through the True Jewel Cosmetic Center – Med Spa and Cosmetic Surgery Center – in Culver City with Dr. Amirali ShakouriPartovi. This is a center that people can feel confident about. The company is run by a very reputable cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Partovi, who is extremely friendly and staff who also care about the patients. The place itself is beautiful.
The patients have left glowing reviews on both Google and Yelp (hundreds of reviews), and as a psychotherapist, I feel that if something will make someone feel better why not do it. Gone are the days of shame for doing something. But still, we can hear people tell us we should be careful about doing things that have risks, but everything has a risk. When I went to this place, I was informed of the risks just as if I went to any other office for any other procedure. I was left feeling comfortable, and I know that anyone would feel comfortable going here.
The purpose of this blog entry is to let anyone know that shame should not be a reason to celebrate you, and to be yourself even if you want to feel better about yourself in any physical way. I am all about body positivity. And that embraces using techniques if we wish to use them to enhance any part of ourselves!
I was not compensated for this blog post, nor would I write a blog post for compensation. I just love doing things that make me feel good for self-care. This includes cosmetic procedures, and the center I mentioned has many of them, and is well-respected.
No one deserves to feel ashamed or embarrassed about any part of themselves as they are. I highlight this center for anyone who wishes, only for themselves, to perhaps make a change if they so wish.
One of the first aspects I noticed was the True Jewel Cosmetic Center was very inclusive of the trans community. The center has procedures that is trans inclusive and does not assume gender identity or pronouns. the trans community, and their check-in process is friendly and trans inclusive. I respected them for this much needed feature, as even many primary care doctors’ offices do not respect gender identity and pronouns, unfortunately.
This was an exciting blog to write, as while it was written with the queer community in mind, and included a bit about my experience, it applies to anyone who might be interested in procedures. Of course, people should consult with a doctor if they are interested in any procedure and examine the risks and benefits. The center has an excellent process as well where they will answer questions about any part of the process and the risks and benefits.
Patrick Tully helps those who suffer from panic and knows that panic disorder is extremely uncomfortable. Patrick Tully is a gay LA therapist and conducts therapy in Los Angeles as well as Culver City. Patrick also is known for therapy in Pasadena as well as all over California as his license covers the entire state. Patrick can help with therapy in Florida and therapy in Texas and consult in any state.
Patrick Tully has multiple specialties, including LGBTQ Affirmative therapy for the gay and LGBTQ+ community.
Panic disorder has greater disparity amongst the LGBTQ+ community, and a peer-reviewed study by Jeffrey Cohen and other authors, Anxiety and Related Disorders and Concealment in LGBTQ+ Populations by Jeffrey Cohen and others stated how panic disorder is experienced at a significantly higher level in the LGBTQ+ community compared with the rest of the population. Because panic disorder is so high in LGBTQ+ populations, it leads to gay, lesbian, bisexual and other sexual and gender minority individuals hiding their identities from other people. This is extremely tragic that people need to do this to try to feel better to fit into our still heteronormative (seeing “straight” as the norm) society. We need to do much better about seeing different gender identities and sexual orientations as normal on both the conscious and unconscious levels, and this means examining even bias that we all may not be aware of, both within and outside the LGBTQ+ community.
Patrick Tully uses CBT, EMDR, DBT, and evidence-based collaborative tools to help all his clients feel better and heard in their sessions. He believes the past and present can play a role as well (psychodynamic), and often combines modalities depending on what the individual needs.
In this blog post, panic disorder is the specific condition that is examined and expanded upon.
Unexpected and repeated panic attacks that are extremely uncomfortable and uneasy to come back from are the norm in people who have panic disorder. It is far more severe than people who simply suffer from panic attacks, as people regularly have these panic attacks and on a very intense level. There is often no warning that there will be a panic attack and that is very scary. The functioning of an individual with panic disorder can be impaired on a day-to-day basis due to the uncertainty and severity of the disorder. Millions of people suffer from panic disorder.
Panic attacks are waves of anxiety that to the individual can feel very much like a medical crisis is occurring. But the reality is this is not the case. Oftentimes, people will have gone to the ER to confirm their symptoms are not a heart attack, and feel ashamed, and this makes the person feel worse, when all they did was look out for their health.
This condition becomes complex and challenging, but it can be managed. The panic attacks have a time range that varies from a few minutes to a few hours.
There can be triggers to panic attacks or they can happen out of nowhere. If there are triggers, then knowing what precipitates the triggers can be useful as part of the treatment.
Both physical and emotional components understandably accompany the panic attacks and also remain afterwards. Because the nervous system is activated, and the fight-or-flight response is on high alert, it is to be expected that the person would feel drained afterwards physically. Emotionally, the person will likely feel shame, even though the do not deserve this feeling of shame. This comes from having gone through the panic attack and feeling as if they have no control over it, and perhaps if they have sought assistance, they have felt as if they are a burden to someone else.
It is important to remember that as a society, we still emphasize full autonomy, and unfortunately do not remind people that asking for help is a good thing. We do not do this enough or at all. There is a stigma when we need help over something that we do not know how to control, and panic attacks are very overwhelming experience.
Patrick Tully has experience helping people as an LA therapist helping with anxiety disorders including panic disorder and panic attacks. As a Los Angeles therapist, Patrick Tully can help you with panic disorder and panic attacks. As a Culver City therapist, Patrick Tully can assist in the understanding the causes and treatment of panic disorder. As a Pasadena therapist, Patrick Tully can help in your understanding panic disorder and panic attacks, which are part of anxiety disorders. Even if you’re in another part of California, Patrick Tully’s license covers all of California, so he is a therapist in California who helps with panic disorder and panic attacks. Patrick Tully is a therapist in Texas, and Patrick Tully is a therapist in Florida! He helps the LGBTQ+ community as a specialty but will help anyone who suffers from this overwhelming disorder which can feel unavoidable.
When we suffer from panic disorder and the constant panic attacks, we understandably turn to avoidance of certain places, situations, anxious thoughts, in the hope of trying to alleviate the condition. What has been found in doing so is that this avoidance only reinforces the panic as the anxious messages are reinforced paradoxically in a way, as they return to find new places, situations, and thoughts where panic can occur. Only by targeting those underlying messages and proving that they are not true, and the associations are false, do we find relief. This is possible, and through exposure therapy, which is done strategically with a trained therapist, such as Patrick Tully. Relief is in sight.
Patrick has experience working with many types of anxiety, in addition to panic disorder, including social anxiety, specific phobias, generalized anxiety, work-related anxieties, and more.
You deserve harmony in your life again. Please fill out the contact form or email Patrick Tully at: patrick@patricktullytherapy.com. You can trust that you are in the right hands! You can also text Patrick at 323-819-0747.
Patrick Tully is a Los Angeles therapist who also is a therapist in Culver City and a therapist in Pasadena. He also is a therapist in Texas, and a therapist in Florida.
Social anxiety disorder goes far beyond being shy. While shyness may cause discomfort when in social settings, its clinical manifestation can significantly impede everyday functioning and compromise a person’s life overall. Social anxiety disorder affects millions of people worldwide and is characterized by an intense fear of social situations, interactions or performances that makes people anxious in everyday social settings. Individuals suffering from social anxiety often feel nervousness in everyday social encounters that interferes with their ability to function well in social environments and can significantly interfere with daily living activities.
People often feel a sense of not feeling capable of even leaving their homes, much less socializing, attending events, or socializing. This is how pervasive the disorder can be for someone who has it.
By avoiding and using avoidance as a strategy to cope with social anxiety disorder, the social anxiety builds and becomes more powerful. The person misses out on social events and no longer interacts with friends.
How strong the symptoms are for each person with social anxiety disorder varies, but it is extremely uncomfortable, and no one with the disorder wants to have it.
Oftentimes, eye contact is extremely challenging, as people fear judgment from others. People who have social anxiety disorder fear that they are ugly, or they do not measure up in some way. The cognitive distortions in their mind tell them that they are these things without any real proof that they are true.
The people who are affected are suffering and often do not know what to do. They do not know that treatment exists.
Patrick Tully, who offers therapy in Los Angeles, who also helps with offering therapy in Pasadena, therapy in Culver City, and therapy in Texas, and therapy in Florida, can help people with Social Anxiety Disorder, and uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Exposure Therapy to help with Social Anxiety Disorder. Patrick Tully is a gay therapist who uses LGBTQ Affirmative therapy and many people seek gay therapists as social anxiety affects those in the LGBT community, as cognitive distortions can be so pervasive, as we try to fit in and the messages starting from childhood, and continuing can fuel our social anxiety.
It is common for social anxiety to manifest physically, such as through nausea, sweating, trembling, having a faster heartbeat, and feeling dizzy. Of course, if one feels that they may feel something else may be at play, such as a medical condition, then they should ask their medical doctor just in case. But any form of anxiety can bring about physical symptoms, including social anxiety. This is due to the body’s fight-or-flight response being in overdrive. The fight-or-flight response results from the nervous system sensing any sort of threat. Dizziness, trembling, shallow breathing, sweating, and other symptoms are commonly associated.
People can be very negative in their thinking patterns with social anxiety and their thoughts about themselves can be very harmful. Some examples might include that the person thinks that they are not interesting to other people, they are not doing enough to satisfy demands in certain ways, or that they are unattractive. These beliefs occur without any real concrete proof. Or the proof occurs because a random bully might have said something negative to the person years ago that really was about themselves (what we call “projecting” in psychology). Projecting is how people might maladaptively deal with insecurities, and one way they deal with it is label someone else as having that insecurity. Of course, that ends up hurting the other person, and people with social anxiety can suffer with hurtful words as a result.
Self-confidence takes a big hit from social anxiety and declines when left untreated. The person who has social anxiety often feels self-conscious or ashamed to be around other people and dislikes being around other people. The result is that they never end up being around others or in any social environments.
Another situation that affects people who deal with social anxiety is difficulty speaking, as people often describe that their minds are jumbled in thoughts. People with social anxiety can end up feeling isolated because they feel as if nothing they do is good enough. They become very harsh critics of themselves.
Social anxiety disorder could be passed through families and genetics can play a role. But this does not mean you are stuck with it for life. There are treatments for it. Environment can also contribute to social anxiety disorder.
Trauma can play a role, such as a childhood bully telling you negative things or something else that really tore you down. You may have had social interactions that did not go well that you still remember or may not remember that well but still affect you.
Natural predispositions can lead to more likelihood of social anxiety disorder, such as shyness. Shyness is a natural personality trait that should not be viewed negatively. In the objective sense, it can potentially lead to social anxiety.
Patrick Tully is a gay therapist who uses LGBTQ Affirmative therapy and many people seek gay therapists as social anxiety affects those in the LGBT community, as cognitive distortions can be so pervasive, as we try to fit in and the messages starting from childhood, and continuing can fuel our social anxiety.
Social Anxiety Disorder disproportionally affects those in the LGBTQ+ community: Verywell Mind – Living with Social Anxiety Disorder as an LGBTQ+ Person
Medications can help with the thoughts racing through your brain and help regulate their intensity as you work through therapy. It is always your decision, but this is one option, as there are now non-addictive medications available, and multiple versions if one has not worked as well as you hoped. But it is only an option and should be discussed during a consultation with a psychiatrist or prescriber that specializes in mental health.
There is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety that can help you with your thoughts by helping you with which ones have proof and which ones are more or less likely to be true. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy comes with homework and exercises that require commitment to repeated tasks but ones that will bring you lasting relief from the intrusive thoughts that social anxiety disorder brings.
Exposure therapy is a part of cognitive behavioral therapy, and involves gradual exposure to environments in a way that is slow and steady, so you feel a slight adjustment but it is planned out in collaboration with your therapist.
Support groups can also be a useful resource as you can navigate social anxiety with other people who are also dealing with the effects of it. In addition, it can be a way to help you become more social. It can help normalize the experience.
In addition to Social Anxiety Disorder, Patrick Tully helps with phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, workplace anxiety, and other types of anxiety. Patrick can utilize CBT, exposure therapy, and other evidence-based practices depending on the client’s needs and collaboration between the client and therapist. Patrick always works with the client individually when determining what their needs are, and what they hope to gain out of therapy.
Patrick Tully, a therapist in Los Angeles, has worked with many people with social anxiety disorder of varying degrees, , and is a therapist in Culver City, and is a therapist in Pasadena, and knows how challenging it can be to deal with the intrusive thoughts of the disorder. He wants to help you feel better! If you are in Texas or Florida, he can help you too!
