Online therapy for anxiety · New York State
Stop the 3 a.m. replays. Anxiety therapists in New York, online across the state.
CBT, EMDR, and mindfulness-based therapy for panic, social anxiety, and worry that will not switch off. Secure video sessions for New Yorkers 15 and up, with evening and weekend availability.
92%
would recommend MMHC
2026 MMHC client experience surveys, 389 unique clients.
2026 client experience surveys
389 clients surveyed
92%
would recommend MMHC
99%
felt safe and welcome with their therapist
90%
said therapy was addressing what brought them to care
At a glance
Manhattan Mental Health Counseling (MMHC) provides online anxiety therapy across New York State. Its 100+ therapists treat panic attacks, social anxiety, generalized worry, phobias, and health anxiety using CBT, EMDR, mindfulness-based, and psychodynamic approaches. The practice is in-network with Aetna, Cigna, United, Healthfirst, and 9 more plans. It verifies each client's benefits before the first session and schedules first sessions often within five days.
Start here
Quick Answers About Anxiety Therapy
- 1
Does Manhattan Mental Health Counseling treat anxiety?
Yes. Our 100+ therapists treat generalized anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, phobias, health anxiety, and work-related anxiety for New Yorkers 15 and up, entirely by secure video.
- 2
How much does anxiety therapy cost in NYC?
With in-network insurance you pay your plan's copay: more than 3 in 4 MMHC clients pay $0 out of pocket, and 97% pay $30 or less per session. Self-pay is $200 for the first session and $175 after; we confirm your exact cost in writing before session one.
- 3
What type of therapy works best for anxiety?
CBT is the most-studied therapy for anxiety disorders, and it is our most-used approach for panic, social anxiety, and chronic worry. Your therapist may also draw on exposure work, EMDR, mindfulness-based methods, DBT skills, or psychodynamic therapy, matched to your symptoms.
- 4
How fast can I start anxiety therapy?
Your first session is often within five days of submitting the form. You get a response and benefits verification within 24 hours, so you start knowing your exact cost.
- 5
Does insurance cover anxiety therapy?
Yes. Outpatient psychotherapy is a covered benefit on the plans we accept, and federal parity law keeps any therapy limit no stricter than your plan's medical limits. We are in-network with Aetna, Cigna, United, Healthfirst, and 9 more plans, and we confirm your coverage in about 5 minutes.
- 6
Does online anxiety therapy work?
Yes. The largest analysis of the client-therapist relationship found it predicts outcomes about equally well online and in person, and New York law bars insurers from excluding a covered therapy service because it is delivered by telehealth.
The basics
Understanding Anxiety in New York: When Ordinary Stress Stops Being Ordinary
About 1 in 4 New York City adults (opens in a new tab) experiences a mental health disorder in a given year, and anxiety disorders are the most common category.[1] In the city's own 2023 Neighborhood Wellness Survey (opens in a new tab), 18.4% of adults reported an anxiety diagnosis at some point in their lives.[2] That is nearly one in five, and the most common diagnosis of any. In this city the raw material is everywhere. Long workdays, a crowded commute, rent that punishes a slow month, careers built on being evaluated, and a social calendar that doubles as networking keep the nervous system on alert long after the actual deadline has passed.
19.1%
of U.S. adults had an anxiety disorder in the past year, and nearly a third will at some point in their lives.[3]
- Past year
- At some point in life
Stress and anxiety are different mechanisms. Stress is a response to a real demand and eases when the demand does. Anxiety keeps running after the demand is gone: the presentation went fine and you are still replaying it at 3 a.m. It becomes a clinical concern when it persists for weeks and starts making your decisions for you: what you take on at work, whether you speak up, whether you get on the subway, whether you rest without guilt.
Bottom line: If the replay keeps running for weeks after the demand is gone, or has started deciding what you take on and what you avoid, that is reason enough to talk to someone. Your first conversation with us is a free 15-minute screening call.
Stress vs. anxiety
Same presentation, two different nights
$0 Copay for More Than 3 in 4 Clients With In-Network Insurance
We are in-network with 13 plans, including Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (including Oxford and Optum), Healthfirst, Oscar, MVP Health Care, Fidelis Care, EmblemHealth, Molina Healthcare, Affinity, TRICARE, Medicare Advantage, and Original Medicare, and we confirm your exact cost in writing before session one.
Why it works
Does Therapy Actually Help With Anxiety?
Yes. We naturally try to escape anxious feelings as fast as possible. Suppressing them, denying them, or distracting ourselves works for a moment, and then the anxiety returns, often stronger. That dynamic is the cycle of avoidance: short-term relief that teaches your nervous system the fear was justified (psychologists call it negative reinforcement: the relief rewards the escape, so the escape gets stronger). It looks like taking the stairs for a year after one bad elevator ride, or staying quiet in meetings so long that speaking now feels dangerous.
You cannot solve anxiety by avoiding it. Therapy works by changing your relationship to it, deliberately and gradually, so that facing the feared situation becomes possible instead of catastrophic. Each time you stay and the disaster does not arrive, the alarm loses a little authority. Current models of exposure describe this as building a new, competing memory alongside the old fear rather than erasing it (Craske et al., 2014 (opens in a new tab)).[4]
The methods below all work on that cycle from different angles, and your therapist chooses among them based on what keeps yours running.
Bottom line: You and your therapist build the steps together and start with the mildest one, so you move toward the situations you avoid at a pace you set.
The difference
Why MMHC's Approach to Anxiety Works
Your match is made by a person, not an algorithm. A Therapy Coordinator initiates and completes every match, weighing your goals, personality, and clinical needs against the training of 100+ therapists. If the fit is wrong, you switch without restarting intake. Fit is worth protecting: the largest meta-analysis of the client-therapist relationship (Flückiger et al., 2018 (opens in a new tab)), covering 295 studies and more than 30,000 patients, found it is one of the strongest predictors of whether therapy works, online or in person.[5] We call the switch Seamless Rematch: you move to another MMHC clinician and keep your history, so a wrong fit costs you a conversation, not your momentum.
Most online therapy platforms match you by filter or by software: you sort a directory by specialty and insurance and pick from a list, or an algorithm assigns someone. MMHC works the other way around: the Therapy Coordinator reads what you wrote and chooses from the full roster, and no software assigns you.
Anxiety care here is measured. The GAD-7 every four weeks means "is this working" gets an answer in numbers, reviewed in clinical supervision, instead of a feeling either of you might be wrong about.
The bench is deep and kept sharp. Our 100+ therapists span the conditions and methods listed below, and every clinician trains monthly, joins a monthly Clinician Consultation Group, and chooses from 3+ sponsored trainings each quarter, so you are matched to your specific concern rather than to whoever has an opening.
In-network, no separate queue. Insured clients are scheduled as quickly as self-pay clients; insurance never puts you in a slower line.
Coverage verified first. We confirm your copay with your carrier before session one, and if your plan changes mid-treatment we re-verify your benefits and you usually keep the same therapist, without a gap.
Outcome-tracked care. Standardized check-ins (GAD-7, PHQ-9) measure whether the work is actually moving, instead of guessing.
Evenings and weekends. Therapy is available mornings, evenings, and weekends, because anxiety does not keep office hours.
Bottom line: Tell us what is going on in your own words, and the Therapy Coordinator chooses your therapist from the full roster. If the fit feels wrong, say so, and you move to another MMHC clinician without restarting intake.
Know the signs
What Anxiety Does to You
Anxiety shows up in the body as much as the mind, and often in the body first. Common signs:
Physical signs
- Racing heart or palpitations
- Shortness of breath or chest tightness
- Sweating and muscle tension
- Stomach upset
- Fatigue and trouble sleeping
Mental and behavioral signs
- Worry spread across many areas of life at once
- Rumination and intrusive thoughts
- Difficulty concentrating
- Avoiding places or conversations
- Over-preparing or repeatedly seeking reassurance
Some of these symptoms can also have medical causes, so new or severe chest pain, serious trouble breathing, or fainting warrants urgent medical care first. MMHC provides scheduled outpatient therapy, not crisis care: if you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room, and see our emergency resources page.
Bottom line: If several of these feel familiar and have lasted more than a few weeks, therapy can help you understand what is driving them and change the pattern.
What we treat
Types of Anxiety We Treat
A clinical assessment sorts out which of these fits, because the treatment plan differs by type.
- 1
Generalized Anxiety (Chronic Worry)
Frequent, hard-to-control worry spread across work, money, health, family, and small daily logistics, out of proportion to the actual stressor and running most days for months.
- 2
Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear with strong physical symptoms: racing heart, shortness of breath, chest tightness, a sense of losing control. Panic disorder is repeated attacks plus persistent fear of the next one, which is what drives people to avoid trains, crowds, and exercise. Read how to stop a panic attack when you feel it coming on.
- 3
Social Anxiety
A persistent fear of being judged or embarrassed in meetings, dates, presentations, and ordinary conversation. For focused treatment detail, see our social anxiety therapy page.
- 4
Health Anxiety
The recurring fear that a physical sensation signals serious illness, kept alive by checking, searching, and reassurance-seeking that relieves the worry briefly and then feeds it.
- 5
Common in New York
Performance Anxiety, Work Stress, and Burnout
Performance anxiety concentrates fear around being evaluated: a presentation, a performance review, a pitch, a high-stakes deadline. The body reacts as if the evaluation were a physical threat: racing heart, dry mouth, a mind that goes blank exactly when it needs to perform. Left alone it can spread from one presentation to any situation where you might be judged, and New York's professional culture, where evaluation rarely stops, feeds it. When the pressure is chronic rather than event-based, see work stress therapy and burnout therapy, and executive therapy when the pressure is leadership-level.
- 6
Phobias
An intense, disproportionate fear of a specific thing or situation: flying, heights, needles, elevators, the subway. Most people know the fear is excessive and still cannot reason it away, which is why treatment works through practice rather than argument.
- 7
Anxiety During Life Transitions
A new job, a breakup, graduation, a move, a diagnosis, a new baby. Situational anxiety is normal and still worth treating when it stops resolving on its own. See life transitions counseling.
- 8
Anxiety in Teens and Young Adults
We see clients 15 and up. Nearly a third of adolescents (opens in a new tab) experience an anxiety disorder, and early-career New Yorkers carry their own version of it.[3] See therapy for young adults.
- 9
OCD and Trauma-Related Anxiety
OCD and PTSD are their own diagnostic categories rather than anxiety disorders, though both involve intense fear, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance. We treat both, with dedicated pages for OCD therapy and PTSD therapy.
The methods
How We Treat Anxiety: Methods With Evidence Behind Them
Your therapist selects and combines methods based on your symptoms, your history, and their training. Most of our clinicians work integratively rather than from a single manual.
CBT for Anxiety
CBT Therapy Page- Best for
- Panic, social anxiety, generalized worry
- Sessions
- Weekly sessions with practice between them
Cognitive behavioral therapy treats anxiety as a loop between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. You learn to catch the automatic prediction ("if I speak up I will humiliate myself"), test it against evidence instead of arguing with it, and then act differently on purpose, with between-session practice such as thought records and behavioral experiments. CBT is the most-studied psychotherapy for panic disorder, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety.[6] In the largest head-to-head comparison of eight psychotherapies for generalized anxiety, CBT was the only one still outperforming usual care months after treatment ended (Papola et al., 2024 (opens in a new tab)).[7] More on our CBT therapy page.
Exposure Work Within CBT
- Best for
- Phobias, panic, avoidance patterns
- Sessions
- Graded, client-paced practice with the situations you avoid
- Notes
- The active ingredient of CBT for phobias and panic (Craske et al., 2014 (opens in a new tab))[4]
Exposure builds tolerance rather than erasing fear. You and your therapist build a ladder of feared situations from mildest to hardest, then climb it at a pace you set, staying in each situation long enough for the anxiety to fall on its own. It also means dropping the safety behaviors (the aisle seat, the rehearsed script, the person you always bring) that keep the fear from ever being disproven. This is standard care for phobias, panic, and social anxiety, and our clinicians deliver it as part of CBT.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR Therapy Page- Best for
- Anxiety tied to a specific distressing or traumatic memory
- Sessions
- Structured memory-reprocessing protocol
- Notes
- Used when a specific memory drives the anxiety; see our EMDR page
When anxiety traces back to distressing or traumatic experiences, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) helps the brain reprocess those memories so they stop firing the alarm in the present. It is a fit for some clients and not others; assessment decides. More on our EMDR therapy page.
Mindfulness-Based Approaches
Mindfulness Therapy Page- Best for
- Rumination, intrusive thoughts, worry about worry
- Sessions
- Skills practice alongside talk therapy
- Notes
- Often paired with CBT
Mindfulness here is a skill, not relaxation: practicing to observe an anxious thought as a mental event rather than an instruction. Noticing "I am having the thought that I will fail" instead of "I will fail" loosens the grip between the thought and the reaction. Some of our clinicians also draw on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which pairs that skill with acting on your values while some anxiety remains. More on our mindfulness therapy page.
DBT Skills for Anxiety
DBT Therapy Page- Best for
- Anxiety with intense emotional swings
- Sessions
- Structured, skills-focused sessions
- Notes
- Skills-based; used when intense emotions ride alongside the anxiety
Dialectical behavior therapy contributes concrete skills: distress tolerance for the moments anxiety spikes, emotion regulation for the days it will not lift, and interpersonal effectiveness for the conversations that trigger it. Useful when anxiety comes with intense emotional swings. More on our DBT therapy page.
Psychodynamic Therapy
- Best for
- Anxiety rooted in longstanding patterns or loss
- Sessions
- Open-ended, exploratory sessions
- Notes
- Suited to insight-oriented work when symptom-focused methods stall
Some anxiety sits on top of something older: a role learned in a family, a loss, a rule you absorbed before you could examine it. Psychodynamic work looks at where the fear was learned and what it has been protecting you from, which matters when symptom-focused work relieves the surface and the anxiety keeps returning in a new shape.
Therapy and Medication
MMHC provides psychotherapy and does not prescribe medication. If medication is part of your care, your therapist can coordinate with your prescriber with your written permission, and therapy pairs well with it. If you are weighing options, start with our guide to alternatives to anxiety medication.
When Anxiety Lives in the Body
Somatic Therapy Page- Best for
- Anxiety felt mainly as physical tension
- Sessions
- Breath, posture, and body-awareness work alongside talk therapy
- Notes
- Complements the approaches above
Anxiety often shows up physically before you recognize it as a thought: breath, jaw, shoulders, gut. Therapy includes learning to read those signals without treating every sensation as danger, a skill that is a treatment target in its own right and not only a side effect of working on the thoughts. It matters most in panic, where the catastrophic reading of a normal body sensation is the engine of the attack. Several of our clinicians incorporate body-based methods; see somatic therapy.
Bottom line: Across approaches, the work moves you from reacting automatically to responding on purpose: understanding your triggers, reading the physical signs sooner, quieting rumination, and practicing the situations you have been avoiding until they stop running your schedule.
What to expect
What Anxiety Therapy at MMHC Looks Like
Treatment starts with assessment, not a protocol. In your first sessions your therapist maps your symptoms, history, sleep, stressors, and goals, then recommends an approach and adjusts it as therapy progresses. Sessions are 53 minutes by secure video, and most people start weekly.
Progress, measured
Your review schedule, from session one
Session 1
Assessment
Symptoms, history, sleep, stressors, goals
Every 4 weeks
GAD-7 + PHQ-9
Scores reviewed with your therapist
Week 8
Milestone check-in
Week 16
Milestone check-in
Week 52
Milestone check-in
After therapy
Follow-up check-in
Progress is measured, not guessed at. Every MMHC client completes the GAD-7 (opens in a new tab) (a validated 7-question anxiety measure) and the PHQ-9 (its depression counterpart) every four weeks, with milestone check-ins at 8, 16, and 52 weeks and after treatment ends.[8] The GAD-7's first item asks how often, over the last two weeks, you have been bothered by feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge. The results inform clinical supervision and case review, so your therapist and their clinical team can see whether the plan is working and change it if it is not. Learn more about how we track outcomes on Progress Pathways.
How long does it take? Clinical guidelines give a benchmark rather than a promise. The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that CBT for generalized anxiety disorder usually run 12 to 15 weekly one-hour sessions, and that CBT for panic disorder total 7 to 14 hours, normally completed within 4 months (NICE CG113 (opens in a new tab)).[9] Focused work on a single specific fear often moves faster; longstanding or trauma-linked anxiety often takes longer. Your own course depends on your history and what you practice between sessions, which is why the GAD-7 every four weeks matters more than a session count quoted up front.
Clinical benchmark · NICE CG113
How long CBT usually runs
Generalized anxiety disorder
12–15 weekly sessions
Panic disorder
7–14 hours, within 4 months
A benchmark rather than a promise. Your own GAD-7 scores show how your course is going.
Bottom line: You should be able to ask "Is this helping?" and get an answer from your own GAD-7 scores. If the scores stall, the plan changes, and you can be the one to raise it.
Cost and insurance
What Anxiety Therapy Costs in New York
With in-network insurance, you pay your plan's copay (the fixed fee you owe at each visit). More than 3 in 4 MMHC clients pay $0 out of pocket, and 97% pay $30 or less per session. Without insurance, self-pay is $200 for the first session and $175 per session after, for a 53-minute session billed under CPT code 90837 (opens in a new tab) (the billing code for a full-length individual psychotherapy session).[10] Couples sessions bill under 90847 at the same rates.
| Your situation | What you pay | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| In-network insurance (13 plans: Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (including Oxford and Optum), Healthfirst, Oscar, MVP Health Care, Fidelis Care, EmblemHealth, Molina Healthcare, Affinity, TRICARE, Medicare Advantage, and Original Medicare) | Your plan's copay, or coinsurance after any deductible; more than 3 in 4 clients pay $0 | We call your insurer, confirm your exact cost in about 5 minutes, and put it in writing before session one |
| Out-of-network plan | Our self-pay rate up front; your plan may reimburse part of it, depending on your out-of-network benefits | We provide superbills (itemized receipts with the codes insurers require) so you can file for reimbursement |
| No insurance / self-pay | $200 first session, then $175 per session | Per-session billing, no subscription, cost confirmed before you start |
Two terms decide most in-network costs: the deductible (what you pay out of pocket before coverage starts) and coinsurance (the percentage you pay after the deductible is met). We check both for your plan, along with any referral or authorization rule, before your first session. New York law also bars your insurer from excluding a covered therapy service because it is delivered by telehealth, and your telehealth cost-sharing can be no less favorable than in person.[11]
We accept 13 insurance plans: Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (including Oxford and Optum), Healthfirst, Oscar, MVP Health Care, Fidelis Care, EmblemHealth, Molina Healthcare, Affinity, TRICARE, Medicare Advantage, and Original Medicare. The full list, with what each plan typically costs, is on our insurance page.
Carrier-specific cost details, including typical copays by plan, are on our Aetna, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare pages.
What's included in every session
- 53 minutes of one-on-one time with your therapist, billed under CPT code 90837
- Secure, HIPAA-compliant video from anywhere in New York State
- A superbill for out-of-network reimbursement on request; HSA and FSA funds can be used for self-pay
- Self-pay with no insurance claims, if you prefer to keep therapy off your plan's records
Bottom line: You will know your exact cost in writing before your first session. With one of our 13 in-network plans, the most likely number is $0; without insurance, it is $200 for the first session and $175 after.
Anywhere in New York
Online Anxiety Therapy in Manhattan and Across New York State
We are a Manhattan practice, and every session is online. That is a deliberate design, and for anxiety it works in your favor: no commute to dread, no waiting room, no canceling because a meeting ran long, and the same therapists available whether you are in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Buffalo, or the Hudson Valley. You attend from wherever in New York State you are, and the session is secure, HIPAA-compliant video. Sessions run on Zoom; a laptop, tablet, or phone with a camera works.
If you searched for an anxiety therapist near you, or anxiety counseling in Manhattan, this is the honest version of "near": your therapist is as close as your laptop, and your zip code does not shrink your options to whoever practices within ten blocks. The evidence supports the format, too. A meta-analysis directly comparing video and in-person psychotherapy found a negligible difference in outcomes, with results strongest when anxiety, depression, or PTSD were the targets (Fernandez et al., 2021 (opens in a new tab)).[12] The same alliance research above found the client-therapist relationship predicts outcomes about as strongly in internet-based therapy as in person.[5] New York Insurance Law section 3217-h (opens in a new tab) requires insurers to cover telehealth therapy on cost-sharing terms at least as favorable as the in-person version.[11]
Bottom line: All you need is a laptop, tablet or phone with a camera and somewhere you can talk freely, and you are matched from the same full roster whether you join from Brooklyn or Buffalo.
Who does what
Anxiety Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist?
Searching for an anxiety psychologist? Here is how the titles actually differ, so you can pick on function rather than label.
| Provider | Credential | What they do for anxiety |
|---|---|---|
| Therapist / counselor (what MMHC provides) | LMHC, or MHC-LP under licensed supervision | Talk therapy: CBT, exposure work, EMDR, mindfulness-based and psychodynamic therapy |
| Psychologist | PhD or PsyD | Talk therapy plus formal psychological testing; no prescribing in New York |
| Psychiatrist | MD or DO | Medication evaluation and management; some also provide therapy |
For most anxiety, evidence-based talk therapy is the first-line treatment, and that is what our licensed mental health counselors deliver. If medication questions come up, your therapist coordinates with a prescriber rather than leaving you to broker it alone.
Areas of focus
Conditions and Methods Our Therapists Cover
Our 100+ therapists are experienced in addressing a broad variety of mental health concerns and utilizing a wide variety of therapeutic modalities.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Self Esteem
- Trauma
- Family Issues
- Coping Skills
- Mindfulness
- CBT Therapy
- EMDR Therapy
- Life Transitions
- OCD Therapy
- Social Anxiety
- Men's Issues
- Bipolar Disorder
- Domestic Abuse
- Phobias
- Integration
- Porn Addiction
- ADHD
- Burnout Issues
- DBT Therapy
- Anger Management
- PTSD
- Work Stress
- Career Counseling
- Grief
- Marriage Counseling
- Eating Disorders
- Spirituality
- Young Adults
- LGBTQ
- Substance Abuse
- Sexual Abuse
- Parenting
- Somatic Therapy
- Women's Issues
A quick gut check
Questions to Ask Yourself About Anxiety
A quick gut check on whether it is time to talk to someone:
Do I spend more time bracing for what could go wrong than dealing with what is actually happening?
Have I started avoiding places, people, or conversations to keep the anxiety down?
Is it showing up in my body: a racing heart, a tight chest, stomach trouble, or sleep that will not come?
Do the people close to me say I am more on edge, irritable, or checked out than I used to be?
Have my usual ways of coping (exercise, distraction, reassurance from others) stopped working?
If you answered yes to two or more, anxiety therapy is worth a conversation.
Not sure which type of anxiety you have?
In the past month, have you found yourself worrying about a long list of different things (work, money, health, relationships, small daily stuff) rather than just one?
Find Your Anxiety TypeFree · 27 questions · Instant personalized result
In their words
What Clients Say
5,000+ clients since 2014
So far so good! My first appointment with Stephanie went better than expected. She is a great listener, affirming and made me feel comfortable from beginning to end.
Verified patient · Jul 2026 First experience was great! What stood out was her listening and giving feedback for solutions.
Verified patient · Sep 2025 She was great at making me feel comfortable on my first appointment. I know already we are going to click, and she will help me!
Verified patient · Dec 2024 She is so wonderful to talk to, she makes it easy to open up and share while creating a safe space to do so. Highly recommended!
Verified patient · Oct 2024 Even though we weren’t in the same room, she made me feel completely comfortable and connected. Her warm and supportive demeanor came through, even over the screen.
Verified patient · Sep 2024 Sandra is very attentive, a great listener, and offers helpful questions and answers.
Verified patient · Mar 2024
I was able to be paired with a therapist I actually connected with on the first try, which is pretty miraculous. Stephanie is absolutely wonderful. I have been seeing her for 7 months now and my experience has been seamless so far.
Rated 5 of 5. I’ve been a client at this practice for over a year now and it’s been life-changing. The intake was seamless and my therapist is outstanding. Looking forward to continuing my treatment here.
Rated 5 of 5. Over 2 years with my therapist and she’s a 10/10. She has helped me a lot with all of my issues, especially coping with BPD and depression. She’s very accommodating and willing to go above and beyond!
Rated 5 of 5. Intake process was smooth and easy. I love the Telehealth platform used as well. My therapist is great and I love that I am doing my mental health here.
Rated 5 of 5. My therapist is excellent! I am happy with my therapy.
Rated 5 of 5. Kind and patient attention and support as I begin my emotional healing journey in earnest.
Rated 5 of 5.
Who you might work with
Featured Anxiety Therapists
Choosing a therapist is itself an anxiety-inducing task, so we keep it simple: you tell us what is happening, and the Therapy Coordinator matches you. Our clinicians are licensed mental health counselors (LMHC) and mental health counselors in limited-permit status (MHC-LP) practicing under licensed supervision, as New York requires. The three below are examples of the bench. When you submit the form, the Therapy Coordinator selects from all 100+ clinicians based on your concerns, schedule, and plan.
Ricci Mercedes, LMHC
CBT-grounded, client-centered work for anxiety, focused on self-awareness and durable change rather than quick reassurance.
Alyssa Sardis, LMHC-D
Trained in EMDR and grounded in CBT, working with anxiety, depression, and PTSD, including anxiety that traces back to distressing experiences. An ADHD-Certified Clinical Services Provider with a master's in mental health counseling from Long Island University.
Carol Black, LMHC
EMDR, somatic, and polyvagal-informed work with panic attacks, phobias, agoraphobia, and severe anxiety, alongside complex trauma. Fully trained in EMDR and DBT, with a primary certificate in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute.
Accepting new patients
Online Anxiety Therapists in New York Accepting New Patients
Manhattan Mental Health Counseling is a New York State psychotherapy practice founded in 2014, accepting new clients ages 15 and up for anxiety therapy. Its 100+ therapists hold sessions by secure video across all of New York State, the practice is in-network with 13 insurance plans including Aetna, Cigna, United, and Healthfirst, and each client's exact copay is verified before the first session. MMHC is rated 4.0 on Google and has worked with 5,000+ clients since 2014.
Yes, we are taking new anxiety clients now. You do not need a diagnosis or the right words. Tell us what you are dealing with, we verify your benefits, and the Therapy Coordinator matches you with a therapist trained in your specific concern. If the first match is not right, the Therapy Coordinator responds within one business day, and rematching within MMHC costs nothing extra. Sessions are also available with Italian-speaking, Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking therapists. There is no separate wait queue for insured clients, and your first session is often within five days of submitting the form.
Four simple steps
How to Start Anxiety Therapy
- 1
Submit the form. Tell us briefly what is happening, your availability, and your insurance. You receive a response within 24 hours.
- 2
Book your free 15-minute screening call. You get an email with a link to schedule it. We ask about your concerns and what you want in a therapist, verify your insurance (the coverage check takes about 5 minutes), and send your cost in writing before you commit.
- 3
Get matched by a person. The Therapy Coordinator pairs you with a therapist whose training fits your specific anxiety, in-network with your plan where applicable, and with your style preference, direct or reflective.
- 4
Start, often within five days. Your first 53-minute video session is scheduled at a time that works, including mornings, evenings, and weekends. If the fit is not right, you switch clinicians without restarting intake.
Choosing well
Questions to Ask Any Anxiety Therapist Before You Book
Whoever you choose, these five questions separate a real anxiety specialist from a generalist with anxiety on their profile:
Your booking checklist
Tap each question to see how MMHC answers it.
We answer all five before you commit, in writing where a number is involved.
Start Therapy NowLicensing
Are you licensed in New York, or practicing under licensed supervision, and who supervises you?
How MMHC answers: Our clinicians are licensed mental health counselors (LMHC) or limited-permit counselors (MHC-LP) practicing under licensed supervision, as New York requires.
Training
What training do you have in CBT, exposure work, or EMDR, and which would you likely use with me?
How MMHC answers: Your therapist recommends an approach after assessment, drawing on CBT, exposure work, EMDR, mindfulness-based and psychodynamic therapy.
Experience
How much of your caseload involves my specific concern (panic, social anxiety, health anxiety, chronic worry)?
How MMHC answers: The Therapy Coordinator matches you with a therapist trained in your specific concern, chosen from all 100+ clinicians.
Progress
How will we measure whether therapy is working, and when will we review it?
How MMHC answers: Every client completes the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 every four weeks, with milestone check-ins at 8, 16, and 52 weeks.
Cost
What exactly will I pay per session, and can I get that in writing before the first appointment?
How MMHC answers: We confirm your exact cost with your insurer and put it in writing before your first session.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't see your question here, contact our support team at 212‑960‑8626.
What does anxiety therapy cost with insurance in New York?
More than 3 in 4 Manhattan Mental Health Counseling clients pay a $0 copay with in-network insurance, and 97% pay $30 or less per session. Self-pay is $200 for the first session and $175 per session after, for 53-minute sessions. If your plan is out-of-network, you pay the self-pay rate up front and we provide a superbill so you can file for reimbursement; HSA and FSA funds can be used for self-pay. We confirm your exact cost in writing before your first session.
Does insurance cover anxiety therapy in New York?
Yes. Outpatient psychotherapy is a covered behavioral health benefit on the plans we accept. Under the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (opens in a new tab), any limit on therapy visits can be no stricter than your plan's limits on comparable medical care.[13] Manhattan Mental Health Counseling is in-network with 13 plans, including Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (including Oxford and Optum), Healthfirst, Oscar, MVP Health Care, Fidelis Care, EmblemHealth, Molina Healthcare, Affinity, TRICARE, Medicare Advantage, and Original Medicare.
How do I find out what I would actually pay?
Call 212‑960‑8626 or submit the form. We contact your insurer, confirm your copay, coinsurance, deductible status, and any referral or authorization rule in about 5 minutes, and put your estimated cost in writing before your first session. You can also call the member services number on your insurance card and ask about outpatient mental health benefits for CPT code 90837.
Do you offer CBT for anxiety?
Yes. CBT is our most-used approach for panic, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety, usually combined with graded exposure work for avoidance. You practice between sessions, because that is where the change consolidates.
Do you offer exposure therapy?
Yes, as part of CBT. You and your therapist build a graded ladder of feared situations, climb it at a pace you set, and drop the safety behaviors that keep the fear alive. It is standard care for phobias, panic, and social anxiety.
Do you offer EMDR for anxiety?
Yes. EMDR is available for anxiety linked to distressing or traumatic experiences, when assessment shows it fits. Your therapist will recommend it, or an alternative, based on your history rather than a default.
What type of therapy is most effective for anxiety?
No single method wins for every person, but CBT is the most-studied psychotherapy for anxiety disorders (Bandelow et al., 2017 (opens in a new tab)) and the usual starting point for panic, social anxiety, and chronic worry.[6] Your therapist matches the approach, which may include exposure work, EMDR, mindfulness-based methods, DBT skills, or psychodynamic therapy, to your symptoms and history.
Can therapy stop panic attacks?
Therapy can reduce both the attacks and the fear of the next one, which is what keeps panic disorder running. CBT for panic targets the catastrophic interpretation of body sensations and the avoidance that follows, and it teaches in-the-moment skills. Our guide to stopping a panic attack when you feel it coming on covers the immediate skills.
How long are sessions, and how often do we meet?
Sessions are 53 minutes, billed under CPT code 90837, by secure video. Most people start weekly and adjust the cadence with their therapist as symptoms improve.
How long does anxiety therapy take?
Clinical guidelines give a benchmark: NICE (opens in a new tab) recommends 12 to 15 weekly one-hour sessions of CBT for generalized anxiety disorder, and 7 to 14 hours of CBT for panic disorder, usually completed within 4 months.[9] Focused work on a single specific fear often moves faster; longstanding or trauma-linked anxiety often takes longer. We do not promise a session count for your case. We measure progress with the GAD-7 every four weeks, with milestone reviews at 8, 16, and 52 weeks, so you see whether it is working instead of guessing.
What happens in the first session?
Your therapist asks what brought you in, what your anxiety looks like day to day, relevant history, sleep, and what you want to change. You do not need to tell the whole story at once. You leave with an initial sense of the approach and what the next few sessions will focus on.
How does therapist matching work?
A Therapy Coordinator initiates and completes every match personally; no algorithm assigns you. The match weighs your goals, personality, clinical needs, schedule, and insurance against the training of 100+ therapists. If the fit is wrong, you rematch without restarting intake, and your progress carries over.
How do I know if my therapist is the right fit?
Within the first few sessions you should feel understood, clear on the plan, and able to disagree with your therapist without it becoming a rupture. If any of that is missing, say so; rematching is built into how we work, and the alliance research is clear that fit drives outcomes.[5]
Do you see teenagers with anxiety?
Yes. We see clients 15 and up, including teenagers, and match them with clinicians experienced with adolescents and young adults. Our therapy for young adults page covers the 18 to 35 range in depth.
Do you have anxiety psychologists or psychiatrists?
Our clinicians are licensed mental health counselors (LMHC) and supervised MHC-LP clinicians, the New York credentials for talk therapy; they are neither psychologists (PhD/PsyD) nor psychiatrists (MD). We provide psychotherapy and do not prescribe medication. If medication may help, your therapist coordinates with a prescribing provider with your written permission.
Can you treat anxiety and depression together?
Yes, and they frequently arrive together. Every client completes both the GAD-7 for anxiety and the PHQ-9 for depression every four weeks, so both are tracked from day one. Our depression therapy page covers that side of the work.
Is online therapy effective for anxiety?
Yes. A meta-analysis directly comparing video and in-person psychotherapy found a negligible difference in outcomes, with results strongest for anxiety, depression, and PTSD (Fernandez et al., 2021 (opens in a new tab)).[12] The alliance research points the same way: the client-therapist relationship predicts outcomes about as strongly online as in person.[5] Every MMHC session is secure, HIPAA-compliant video, and New York law requires insurers to cover telehealth therapy on cost-sharing terms at least as favorable as in-person care.[11]
Do you offer in-person sessions in Manhattan?
No. MMHC is telehealth-only by design, which is why the same 100+ therapists are available to you anywhere in New York State, with evening and weekend openings and no commute. If in-person care is a requirement for you, we are the wrong fit, and we would rather you know that before session one.
Are you accepting new anxiety clients right now?
Yes. We are accepting new clients across New York State, therapy is available mornings, evenings, and weekends, and there is no separate wait queue for insured clients. First sessions are often within five days of submitting the form.
What if my insurance changes mid-treatment?
You usually keep the same therapist. We re-verify your benefits, walk you through your options, including our self-pay rate if needed, and sessions continue without a gap, so a job change does not mean starting therapy over.
Get started
Get Started With Anxiety Therapy
Submit the form and you will get an email with a link to book a screening call at your convenience.
- First sessions often within five days · no in-network waitlist
- Coverage verified before your first session
- Secure video, anywhere in New York State
Prefer to talk? Call 212‑960‑8626
References
1. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (2024). The State of Mental Health of New Yorkers. https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2024/nyc-releases-first-ever-state-of-mental-health-report.page (opens in a new tab)
2. New York City Neighborhood Wellness Survey. An expansive population-level behavioral health assessment of New York City residents, 2023. PMC12973545 (accessed September 2026). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12973545/ (opens in a new tab)
3. National Institute of Mental Health. Any Anxiety Disorder (statistics). (accessed August 2026) https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder (opens in a new tab)
4. Craske, M. G., Treanor, M., Conway, C. C., Zbozinek, T. and Vervliet, B. (2014). Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 58, 10-23. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24864005/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1016/j.brat.2014.04.006 (opens in a new tab)
5. Flückiger, C., Del Re, A. C., Wampold, B. E. and Horvath, A. O. (2018). The alliance in adult psychotherapy: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy, 55(4), 316-340. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29792475/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1037/pst0000172 (opens in a new tab)
6. Bandelow, B., Michaelis, S. and Wedekind, D. (2017). Treatment of anxiety disorders. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 19(2), 93-107. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28867934/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow (opens in a new tab)
7. Papola, D., Miguel, C., Mazzaglia, M. et al. (2024). Psychotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder in adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(3), 250-259. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37851421/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3971 (opens in a new tab)
8. Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W. and Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16717171/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092 (opens in a new tab)
9. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2011, updated 2020). Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults: management (CG113). https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg113 (opens in a new tab)
10. American Medical Association. CPT (Current Procedural Terminology). https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/cpt (opens in a new tab)
11. New York Insurance Law § 3217-h. Telehealth Delivery of Services. https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._insurance_law_section_3217-h (opens in a new tab)
12. Fernandez, E., Woldgabreal, Y., Day, A., Pham, T., Gleich, B. and Aboujaoude, E. (2021). Live psychotherapy by video versus in-person: A meta-analysis of efficacy and its relationship to types and targets of treatment. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(6), 1535-1549. PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33826190/ (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1002/cpp.2594 (opens in a new tab)
13. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). https://www.cms.gov/marketplace/private-health-insurance/mental-health-parity-addiction-equity (opens in a new tab)
A Note on Scope and Crisis Support
Note: This page is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. If you have persistent or concerning symptoms, consult a licensed medical professional. If you are in crisis or immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room, or see our emergency resources page.
CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.