Anxiety Treatment in NYC — An Integrative Approach

When anxiety persists despite therapy, medication, or both, something is being missed.

Many patients who come to Evolution Medicine have already tried standard treatments — completed therapy programs, taken Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), followed the clinical advice they were given. They still feel anxious, on edge, or physiologically activated in ways they can't fully explain.

That is not a personal failure. It is a signal that the underlying drivers of their anxiety have not been fully identified.

Why Standard Treatment Often Falls Short

Conventional anxiety care addresses symptoms — it is not designed to investigate underlying biology. If your anxiety is being driven by thyroid dysfunction, elevated cortisol, gut dysbiosis, hormonal fluctuation, or patterns connected to substance use, standard treatment will not reach those causes. The drivers remain.

This is why some patients cycle through treatments for years without resolution.

Our Approach

Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation — We begin with a 60–90 minute assessment covering your full history, patterns over time, and what prior treatments have and haven't addressed. Anxiety frequently co-occurs with depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and substance use — all evaluated in a single integrated assessment.

Root-Cause Investigation — When clinically indicated, we assess the biological contributors to anxiety: hormone balance, thyroid function, cortisol patterns, gut health and the gut-brain axis, inflammation markers, and nutritional status. Most psychiatrists do not order this level of investigation.

Integrated Treatment Planning — Your plan draws from evidence-based options across disciplines: medication optimization when appropriate, trauma-informed psychotherapy including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), nutritional psychiatry, and nervous system regulation strategies.

Ongoing Refinement — Anxiety is rarely resolved in a single treatment arc. We monitor, adjust, and iterate as your presentation evolves.

Anxiety, Addiction, and the Overlap

Anxiety and substance use are closely intertwined. Many people use alcohol, cannabis, or other substances to manage anxiety — sometimes without recognizing the connection. Others find anxiety intensifies during recovery or abstinence.

Dr. Lazarevic is double board-certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. Dual diagnosis care — treating anxiety alongside substance use — is central to our clinical model, and available regardless of where a patient is in their relationship with substances.

What Makes Evolution Medicine Different

Double board-certified psychiatry — Dr. Sonya Lazarevic, MD, MS holds dual board certification in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry, with advanced training in integrative, functional, and regenerative medicine — a combination fewer than 5% of psychiatrists hold.

Time and depth — Initial consultations are 60–90 minutes. No rushed assessments, no assumption that a standard approach will work for a complex presentation.

A coordinated clinical team — Care integrates Dr. Shuki Cohen, PhD (clinical psychologist and EMDR specialist) and Helaine Polanco, MS (functional nutritionist) when appropriate, working in coordination rather than in parallel.

Still evaluating? These pages may help.

Anxiety that hasn't responded to prior treatment → Treatment-Resistant Depression & Mood
Learn about our broader clinical model → Integrative Psychiatry NYC
Have questions? Frequently Asked Questions