Dr. Penela's Blog: Anxiety and OCD Coping Tools

How Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) Helped Me Cope with Anxiety while Hiking the Inca Trail

2/13/2025

Below a blue sky, white clouds, and a mountain range lie the ruins of Machu Picchu. A man and a woman pose with their backs to each other and their arms stretched wide. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helped them get to this moment.

One of my bucket list items for a long time was to hike the Inca Trail - the famous 4-day hiking trail in the Andes mountains of Peru. My parents were born and raised in Peru, and I’ve traveled frequently to Lima to visit extended family, and visited Cuzco as a kid, and then again in college. But I had not ventured to do the Inca Trail before because I could not wrap my head around no access to real bathrooms or showers for 4 days! Once I realized I could cope with that – I knew this was an adventure I wanted to experience.

This past summer, I was lucky enough to go on this awe-inspiring hike – surrounded by the beauty of the Andes for four days, and ending the trail in Machu Picchu. I knew the hike would be physically challenging, but what caught me by surprise, was how this experience also challenged me mentally and emotionally. I actively used coping tools that I discuss with my patients in session, and was grateful that they helped me enjoy this incredible and awe-inspiring hike.

Tips for Coping with Test Anxiety in College

10/17/2024

College is a time that is full of new and exciting experiences - but it’s also a time of newfound stresses, pressures, and decisions (e.g., "Is this the career I want to pursue?" "How can I best prepare to get the summer internship?").

Three college students are studying while seated at a table, and experiencing test anxiety.

Anxiety makes a lot of aspects of college life even more difficult: between relationships, moving, difficult coursework, and life decisions, there are plenty of things for anxiety and worry to feed on. And one aspect of college seems custom-made to fuel anxiety - tests! Whether it's the first exam for a class and you don’t know what to expect, the all-important final exams, or tests related to graduate school admissions (LSAT, MCAT, GRE), anxiety often rears its ugly head, which actually makes sense! These are really important tests, and of course you want to do well on them. But when anxiety gets in the way of your ability to focus, leads to feelings of panic or overwhelm, or makes you freeze up altogether - it’s time to take action. Let’s review signs of test anxiety and research-backed strategies to cope with it.

Tools to Cope with Back to School Anxiety

1/3/2024

The holidays can be so much fun for kids- they get to spend time with you, see extended family, play with new toys, bake cookies, and watch holiday movie faves! As a parent, it feels GREAT to know that your children are enjoying that special space you made for them.

Child lays and worries in bed. As children prepare to return to school after an extended break, it's normal to feel sadness and anxiety.

But as the return to school looms ahead, it can bring up feelings of anxiety or dread for kids and teens. Watching your children struggle as they think about going back to school can be so hard.

You can't magically erase your children’s worries (if only!), but you can give them coping tools to help ease their back-to-school anxiety.

CBT Tool to Help Your Child Cope with Anxiety: Socratic Questioning

10/19/2023

If your child or teen is feeling worried, it’s SO tempting to immediately GIVE them information that will help them feel better! But if your child is a chronic worrier who often gets stuck, this doesn't usually help much over the long run. Instead of explaining all the reasons why they shouldn't feel nervous… what if you could help your child come up with the information themselves?

How can we do this? The key is in using Socratic Questioning! Check out this blog post to learn how to use this important CBT tool to help your child or teen cope with anxiety.