Anxiety Treatment

Has Anxiety Become A Barrier To Your Happiness?

Do thoughts of “What if…” keep your mind racing day and night? Is it difficult for you to ground yourself in the present moment where everything is actually okay? Do you wish you could feel lighter and enjoy life as it unfolds instead of plotting out worst-case scenarios?

You might be emotionally exhausted by the negative anticipation that affects every aspect of your life. Whether it is your performance at work or a social engagement, you can’t seem to avoid ruminating about all the potentially negative outcomes that could arise.

For example, you may often feel like your job is on the line and fraught with pitfalls, even though intellectually you realize this isn’t true. However, when these incessant thoughts surface it can make it difficult for you to concentrate—you can’t move beyond them and feel tormented.

The sensations you experience physically when your anxiety gets severe—tight breathing, increased heart rate, sweaty palms, or an impending feeling of doom—could indicate you’re having a panic attack. When this happens, it feels like your world is crashing down and can be terrifying.

Social Anxiety May Keep You Isolated

Perhaps you deliberately avoid social situations because of the level of distress they cause. The anxious anticipation you experience beforehand might convince you not to go. And even though a social outing would actually be good for you, you’ve decided it won’t help. By limiting your social interactions, you may have become closed off and isolated from the people and places that could bring you joy.

The good news is, symptoms of an anxiety disorder are treatable with therapy. Treatment for social anxiety can help quiet your mind and anticipate situations more positively without the constant tension and worry.

“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.” - Kahlil GIbran

We All Experience Anxiety But Too Much Of It Becomes Detrimental To Our Mental Health

When one considers that the National Institute of Mental Health estimated 19.1 percent of U.S. adults experienced an anxiety disorder in the past year, it becomes clear how prevalent anxiety has become in today’s climate. While we all experience normal levels of anxiety as a means for protection from danger, for many of us, this physiological response to fear has become disordered.

How To Distinguish Normal Anxiety From A Disorder

Normal anxiety crosses over into a disorder when we can no longer distinguish a gut feeling from an anxious feeling. We experience deep disorientation when thoughts in our heads frequently become confused with gut feelings designed to protect us from physical threats.

These disordered thoughts set off a chain reaction in the body where we may experience fear as though it is really happening, although it's only taking place in our mind. Our body is then stuck in survival mode, a chemically-driven stress reaction that we experience on a physical level.

Our Brains Haven’t Kept Up With Technology

Despite how technologically advanced our society has become, paradoxically our brains are still at the evolutionary level of “looking for the lion in the room” to determine what is safe and what is not. Unfortunately, when these two opposing states of being rub against each other, it often causes anxiety. The constant stimulation of the internet, social media, and our dependency on smartphones each have the potential to shift our attention away from the present moment. In doing so we become more prone to anxiety and depression.

Yet, even though your anxiety may seem insurmountable, overcoming it is more attainable than you may think. With treatment, you can learn how to manage your symptoms of anxiety to improve your physical and mental well-being.

Anxiety Treatment Can Help Quiet Your Racing Mind

I believe we are all born with a beautiful potential within us that doesn’t have to be validated or seen to exist—it just is. As you’ve gone through life, this potential may have gotten buried over by your experiences to the point that you may have forgotten it’s there. But I will always regard you as the purest form of your beautiful potential. No matter how obscured it has become, it’s possible to return to this true essence of yourself.

What To Expect In Sessions

This is your therapeutic session—you will be in charge. I aim to provide you with a safe space to look at whatever aspects of your life you find challenging or would like to improve. We might begin our work together by identifying the common themes that recur throughout your life experiences—more often than not, these themes usually show up as anxiety symptoms.

Even though anxiety can manifest physically and feels real, it does not have an identity outside how you respond to it. In ongoing sessions, I will help you learn how to create space between yourself and the beliefs you hold that trap you in the thought patterns that lead to anxiety.

Not All Thoughts Are True Or Should Be Believed

As you become the observer of your own thoughts, you will realize how much you believe and identify with your thoughts—even when they are untrue—and how resistant you are to letting them go. In therapy, you will evaluate the perceived fears in your life with a discerning eye so that you can begin to unravel perceptions from reality. Distinguishing between “what is” and your beliefs creates the space to make different choices that free you from habituated, anxiety-based responses.

Responses that have formed based upon your distorted beliefs are not in tune with what’s actually happening in the present moment. However, your resulting fear is so compelling that you never question the conditioned response or the untrue thoughts it was based upon. I will teach you techniques—such as meditation and breathing—that activate your parasympathetic nervous system to help subdue anxious reactions. And if social anxiety or panic attacks are an issue for you, I will utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you reframe thought patterns that will promote behavior change.

The Antidote To Fear Is Gratitude

When you suffer from anxiety, you are focused on the fear of fear. The antidote to break this cycle is gratefulness. When you shift your perception to your strengths—such as what’s working for you and what you’re grateful for—it lessens the impact of the fear. Fundamentally, fear and gratitude cannot co-exist.

You are not your anxiety. Once you recognize that it is a separate system operating within you, its importance will diminish and gratitude and peace will take its place.

But You May Wonder Whether Anxiety Treatment Is Right For You…

I’ve tried anxiety treatment before but it was tedious and didn’t help me.

I am confident my approach to therapy can help you. By recognizing the mind-body connection that is an inherent part of anxiety, our focus will be on how it manifests in your body and learning techniques for letting it go. I use thought framework identification techniques. I use meditation, breathwork, and mindfulness to bring your mind and body into alignment and guide you to the peaceful place within you where inner wisdom resides. Most importantly I will be there to ensure you are truly heard, seen, and felt.

I’m afraid therapy will make my anxiety symptoms worse.

Anxiety counseling involves confronting unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors that keep you stuck in the “What If…?” frame of mind. This process might be uncomfortable for you at first, but it is the best way to understand how your anxiety manifests. Once you take a step back and identify what lies at the root of your symptoms, you can then learn effective strategies for neutralizing anxiety. Although it’s a commitment, I will help you get to a place where you’re comfortable and your heels feel rooted in the process.

I don’t think I can afford anxiety therapy.

Very few things are more important and vital than your mental health. If you suffer from anxiety to the point where it impairs your quality of life, it’s hard to put a price on effective treatment that offers you long-term relief. And although I don’t take insurance, I would be happy to generate a superbill to submit to your provider in case they cover out-of-network benefits.