Dr. Phillip Fisher, Co-founder
Phillip H. Fisher, M.D., is the Medical Director and co-founder of The Midwest Center for Stress & Anxiety. Dr. Fisher has been working with anxiety and panic both with the Midwest Center and in private practice since 1981. He has helped thousands of individuals recover from acute anxiety. He is on staff at Toledo Hospital, Riverside Hospital and Flower Hospital and is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the Academy of Medicine of Lucas County, the Ohio State Medical Society and the Phobia Society of America."When anxious people come into my office, the symptoms they complain of are related directly to their anxiety. However they don't realize this and assume their shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, rapid heart rate and upset stomach are physical problems. In fact, these symptoms are due to their anxiety. The average person doesn't realize that most of their anxiety is caused by internal thought's. It's not the external events that cause our anxiety. It's our interpretation of these external events. If we can learn to control our response to these internal thoughts, we can reduce our anxiety dramatically."
Dr. Irwin Wolkoff, M.D. Psychiatrist
"Anxiety is a state in which a person feels afraid without there being anything really dangerous threatening them. So the emotional component involves feeling really frightened, having a sense that there's something terrible about to happen and there are what we call physiological companions - things that happen to your body because you've got this scared feeling.All of us feel anxious or depressed at times. But when those feelings of anxiety or depression are so serious that they get in the way of work, love and play for more than something like two-weeks, then you've got a problem that needs attention.
ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION tells people about themselves, in ways they didn't know before, and then gives them the skills to actually get at the root causes of their anxiety and depression. I would never dump on medication, I use it in my practice it's very important - it is not a cure."
Dr. Paul Kelley, M.D.
Paul Kelley, M.D., is the National Director of Psychiatry. Dr. Kelley's expertise focuses on substance abuse, depression, dissociative disorders, anxiety and psychopharmacology.Associations include: American Medical Association, Tennessee Psychiatric Association and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation.
Carolyn Dickman, Education Director
Carolyn has been with the Midwest Center for twenty years. Lucinda discovered very early that the best people to employ were those who had recovered using the Attacking Anxiety program. Carolyn's own 30-year struggle with anxiety disorders and depression proved to be an invaluable asset.Carolyn has contributed greatly to the company's overall growth as a speaker, co-facilitator for Midwest Center therapy groups and presenting Stress Management workshops. She has made integral contributions to the development of educational content including: the Personal Coaching program, Attacking Anxiety and Depression program updates, writes and edits the newsletters, manages consumer correspondence, and has worked with thousands of home study participants.
In spite of panic disorder, avoidance behaviors, depression and periodic agoraphobia, Carolyn taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade and was involved in adult education for twenty years before joining the Midwest Center staff. She has been married for 40 years and has six children. To this day she states, "My experience with anxiety and depression was a blessing in disguise. It forced me to change my life."
