Anxiety

While everyone experiences anxiety at some point, some people have more frequent symptoms that disrupt their lives. These symptoms can range from mild discomfort and fear to panic attacks or avoidance of necessary life activities. Have you ever worried that not doing something perfectly will cause you to be a complete failure?  Have you ever felt paralyzed by fear of social gatherings, potential negative outcomes, or specific circumstances? Does anxiety prevent you from doing things you might enjoy or that might be beneficial for you? If so, therapy might be helpful for you.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Anxiety can manifest in different ways for different people.  It might feel like excessive worry, racing thoughts, a knot in your stomach, fluttering in your throat or chest, a racing heart, shaking hands, nausea, or feelings of impending doom.  For some people, anxiety can cause insomnia, appetite changes, difficulty concentrating that negatively impacts your ability to do your work, or panic attacks that can stop your entire day.  Some people even experience migraines or other headaches, digestive issues, high blood pressure, and chronic fatigue.

Anxiety Treatment

There are many ways that therapy can be help if you are struggling with anxiety. Sometimes, having the opportunity to talk through your thought processes and work on ways to combat them can really help. There are also many physical things you can do to manage your anxiety, especially if it falls on the debilitating end of the spectrum.

Many of my clients struggling with anxiety benefit greatly from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills or Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills because they provide straightforward steps to respond to specific symptoms. My favorite skill to teach is progressive muscle relaxation. This skill can be useful in a variety of situations and can be done just about anywhere. There’s a great YouTube guided muscle relaxation video here. Once you learn the technique, you can employ it whenever you need it!

I also use Brainspotting to address the core causes of anxiety for those clients that want to do so. Learning to handle anxiety when it inevitably arises is so important, but I also believe in doing everything we can to deal with the root causes and prevent it in the first place. Brainspotting allows you minimize your anxiety triggers and overcome the thought processes that contribute to an anxious state of being.  I won’t lie – Brainspotting can seem really weird.  Truthfully, it is, but it’s also effective.  You can learn more about it here.

Anxiety is one of my favorite areas to help people improve. It can limit our participation in enjoyable things in life.  At its worst, it can make life feel overwhelming and impossible.  Anxiety presents itself in our bodies in unique ways, which means there are many creative ways to address it physically, too. I personally use many of the skills and resources I recommend, which means I understand how they work in practice. If anxiety is something you’re struggling with, give me a call. I’d love to help you overcome it.