NSU’s Anxiety Treatment Center provides therapeutic services

By Bryce Johnson •

The Anxiety Treatment Center is one of 15 specialty clinics within the Psychology Services Center at NSU. The ATC is available to anyone in South Florida, including students and veterans, so long as they are 18 or older.

Kayla Thayer, board-certified licensed clinical psychologist and full-time faculty member in the College of Psychology, directs the ATC and supervises its graduate coordinators.

“What we do is provide therapeutic services, so really thorough diagnostic assessments, as well as evidence-based treatments that have been shown to be effective through research,” Thayer said. “We provide those for folks with a variety of presenting problems, [such as] anxiety, depression, sleep, sometimes substance issues, OCD, trauma.”

Kayla Thayer, director of the Anxiety Treatment Center, teaches the Assessment of Intelligence course. PHOTO BY ERIKA FOTI.

In the ATC, clients can have as many sessions as they feel necessary. Graduate students work with their clients to develop individualized strategies, and the clients tell them areas of their lives they want to work on.

Because anxiety can be so complex, Ana Violante, graduate coordinator at the ATC and graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program, encourages people feeling anxious to come to the center.

“I think that every person presents differently, even if their main concern is depression or anxiety, that can look very different depending on the person,” Violante said. “Seeking a professional is usually the best, because there’s a lot of things in the internet that are actually contraindicated for treatments of anxiety.”

By getting professional help in the ATC, students have more options to manage all forms of anxiety. No matter where the anxiety is stemming from or how big it is, Thayer said the ATC helps clients identify and address it appropriately.

“One of the things that I really emphasize in the clinic is a collaborative-like teamwork approach,” Thayer said. “We really take the time to ask, ‘what do you want to work on? How do you want your life to be different?’”

Students can make an appointment by calling the PSC at 954-262-4100. Depending on the students’ needs, they will be directed to one of the PSC’s specialty clinics.

“With most clients, you might have that initial nervousness with beginning therapy, especially if it’s your first time seeking treatment in your entire life,” said Liya Mammo, graduate coordinator in the ATC and graduate student in the Doctorate of Psychology program. “But in ATC, like in many of the programs in the PSC, we have pretty comprehensive evaluations or intakes in the beginning, where the client has time to build rapport with the therapist to gradually share more and more about their life and their history and their symptoms.”

The ATC is housed in the Maltz Building and is typically open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the ATC closes at 9 p.m.

“We also offer telehealth, so video-type sessions,” Thayer said. “That works well for folks that have transportation difficulties or busy schedules.”

For those outside of NSU’s community, prices will vary depending on their current income. NSU students can get their fees waived by presenting an NSU ID.

“A lot of people find it really uncomfortable, the experience of feeling anxious. So they try to not feel it. They try to distract or think about other things, and yet that emotion is information,” Thayer said. “That’s why we have a whole center dedicated to it. A lot of times people feel really stuck, feeling like, ‘I don’t know how to manage this.’ It’s very overwhelming. And so it can be really helpful to bring these concerns to a center like ours where we can help you figure it out.”