For the past 25 years I have been an active psychotherapist, patient advocate and author, combining my academic training in psychology, my personal experience of overcoming a phobia, and my commitment to raising public and professional awareness about the seriousness and treatability of anxiety disorders. To this end I founded and direct The Ross Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders in Washington, D.C., am co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, author of Triumph Over Fear: A Book of Help and Hope for People with Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Phobias (Bantam Books, 1994), and producer of Freedom From Anxiety (2001), a comprehensive audio and video tape self-help program.