Anxiety Therapy
Is Anxiety Negatively Affecting The Way You Live Your Life?
Does anxiety interfere with your sense of peace and well-being, often feeling overwhelmed? Do intrusive thoughts preoccupy your mind, tiring you and making you feel on edge? And if you consistently anticipate the worst-case scenario, does your body experience physical symptoms of stress?
Anxiety can make getting through each day a challenge. In addition to worrying excessively about what could go wrong, you might also find that anxiety contributes to social challenges, health issues, and problems in your relationships. With nowhere to hide from its influence over you, anxiety could negatively impact every aspect of your life, battering your self-esteem in the process.
Anxious Thoughts Might Fuel Anxiety Or Panic Attacks
Because your thoughts can affect how you feel in your body, you may experience physical symptoms of anxiety, such as rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, churning stomach, shortness of breath, headaches, or profuse sweating. Excessive worrying over time might culminate in an anxiety attack, or you might experience intense panic attacks out of nowhere, not understanding the reason for them until later.
Maybe the negative self-talk going on in your head informs how you relate to those around you. A fear of rejection might make you self-conscious in social situations or uncomfortable holding conversations with others. Consequently, you might avoid social occasions altogether or struggle to maintain meaningful relationships. Or perhaps people-pleasing behaviors keep you stuck putting others’ needs ahead of your own.
If only you knew how to stop the negative feedback loop in your head and stay in the present moment, you could relax and find peace. The good news is therapy offers you customized treatment to effectively manage anxiety. Understanding its origin, how to soothe the nervous system, and redirecting thoughts can help you keep anxiety in check.
Anxiety Disorders Impact 20 Percent Of American Adults
Along with depression, General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most prevalent mental health disorder in the world. [1] Per statistics gathered by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “anxiety disorders affect nearly 1 in 5 American adults each year.” [2]
As humans, we are wired for anxiety. Our fight-flight-freeze response is an innate survival mechanism designed to protect us from physical threats and keep us out of danger. Anxiety in and of itself isn’t the problem—rather, the level of anxiety we experience should be appropriate and balanced to what's happening externally. However, an excess of anxiety negatively impacts both our overall well being.
The Reasons Why Anxiety Disorders Are So Common
When examining the many underlying reasons contributing to anxiety disorders—such as GAD, social anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks—it becomes clear why they are so prevalent in the world today. Anxiety can stem from psychological, biological, neurobiological, and environmental influences including:
Our family of origin, such as a genetic disposition to anxiety;
Learned behaviors and modeling after parental role models;
Early childhood experiences, chronic stress, and life events;
Living in a fast-paced society that values high levels of achievement; and
Being negatively influenced by the self-comparison exacerbated by social media.
Unfortunately, trying to overcome anxiety on our own can be really difficult. A lack of objective perspective can hinder identifying the underlying reasons why we are anxious or understanding what our triggers are. What’s more, finding effective coping skills to manage anxiety isn’t always straightforward. Anxiety is complex and often involves layers of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors we struggle to untangle alone. That’s why it’s beneficial to work with someone who is not only unbiased but who also understands its nuances.
Counseling offers the expertise of a therapist who can help you pinpoint the origins of your anxiety disorder as well as provide tangible skills and strategies for mitigating your symptoms.
Anxiety Therapy Can Help Your True Self Emerge
If you’ve suffered from anxiety for a while, you may have concluded that this is how you are wired and there is nothing you can do to change it. Therapy for anxiety offers you a forum to discover where your true self resides, a self not overtaken by symptoms and held captive by unhealthy thoughts and feelings. When you drill down into your core and become known to yourself, you will realize that although anxiety is an imprint you’ve carried for a long time, it doesn’t reflect who you really are.
When you are securely anchored in self-awareness, it allows you to put anxiety in a healthier context, making it easier to manage. Because an internal level of anxiety that is properly balanced with your external world is normal, the goal of therapy won’t be to eradicate it completely. Rather, you will learn how to regulate anxiety so that you can thrive more fully and more healthily. You’ll learn how to live with it so it supports you rather than hinders you.
What To Expect From Anxiety Therapy
Many clients with anxiety feel alone in their suffering. Our sessions together will be a safe space where you can openly discuss your triggers. In therapy, you can feel understood, validated, and seen. After we unearth the roots and triggers, I will customize treatment to address your needs, providing you with personalized skills that help care for your anxiety while building up your sense of well-being. Applying what you learn in and out of sessions will be a critically important piece of recovery.
As an anxiety counselor, I find it beneficial to provide clients with psychoeducation about neurobiology. Understanding how the nervous system works and the interplay between the body and the brain can help explain what causes anxiety to manifest. We will also identify the coping mechanisms you developed at an earlier age, exploring when and why you learned them and how they served you. As a survivor of your past there can be ways in which the anxiety alarm you needed then isn’t needed now, yet your body doesn’t know that.
The Modalities I Use In Anxiety Therapy
Building upon what neuroscience has taught us about anxiety, I will utilize modalities and strategies that soothe the nervous system and challenge limiting beliefs and intrusive thoughts that may negatively impact how you think and feel about yourself and the world around you. Anxiety disorder treatment may include:
Identifying triggers and root causes;
Relaxation and mindfulness techniques for managing anxiety and stress;
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety that offers healthier coping skills, such as self-monitoring, behavior interventions, and cognitive restructuring;
Healthy habit formation; and
Exposure therapy for phobias, if applicable.
As you perfect new and better coping skills for yourself, you can gain confidence and tap into the resilience you possess within. With anxiety in check, remaining in the present moment and finding the peace that resides there becomes more accessible to you.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure If Anxiety Therapy Is Right For You…
Will anxiety counseling help me quiet the negative voice in my head?
Anxiety often activates an inner critic who tells us we’re not good enough or that something bad is about to happen. Using evidence-based techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety, we can explore your negative thought patterns, where they come from, and what makes them persist. Once we better understand these thoughts, we can challenge their validity. Additionally, learning how your body processes stress and beneficial practices to mitigate anxiety, such as mindfulness, will help diminish your symptoms.
Can we develop a treatment plan for managing anxiety attacks in therapy?
Anxiety attacks can be debilitating and cause you to avoid activities you enjoy. In therapy sessions, I can help you develop a personalized plan to manage anxiety attacks, including psychoeducation, coping strategies, and relaxation techniques. Once we better understand what’s causing anxiety attacks, we can tailor a treatment based on your needs.
If I go to therapy, will my anxiety completely disappear?
Remember, anxiety is a natural survival instinct we all have. Its purpose is to perceive potential threats and protect us from harm. While the goal of therapy is not to eradicate anxiety altogether, moderate to severe anxiety can be managed and significantly reduced with effective treatment and coping strategies.
Anxiety Doesn’t Have To Rule Your Identity Anymore
When you are known to yourself and can make meaning of your life, the world will open up to you. To find out more about anxiety therapy with Be Known Wellness Group, email, call 857-505-1856, or visit our contact page to schedule a free 15-minute call.
[1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
[2] https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/03/understanding-anxiety-disorders#:~:
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