Anxiety Counseling
YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING:
Difficulty concentrating
Your mind “going blank”
Mood swings
Feelings of helplessness
Feelings of worthlessness
Anticipation of the worst possible outcome in many or all situations
Irrational fears and dread
Excessive and irrational fear or worry
Feeling in danger
Flashbacks
Feelings of dissociation
Feelings of apprehension
Worry that you or loved ones are in danger
Restlessness or difficulty relaxing
Indecisiveness and self-doubt when making decisions
Intrusive and uncontrollable negative thoughts
Feeling stressed
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, remember you are not alone.
panic disorder and panic attack therapy
Social anxiety therapy
Anxiety can impair your ability to effectively engage in your life, take time away from who and what you love, and deplete your energy with exhaustive worry. Generalized anxiety poses additional risks to your physical health and comfort. There are even instances where anxiety disorders present through physical symptoms prior to emotional and psychological symptoms.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY DISORDERS MAY INCLUDE:
Fatigue and/or exhaustion
Insomnia or sleep issues
Nightmares and night terrors
Eating too little or eating too much
Muscle tension and pain
Dry mouth
Excessive sweating
Shaking or trembling
GI symptoms: upset stomach, nausea, etc.
Heart racing
Frequent headaches
Shortness of breath
Cold or sweaty hands and/or feet
Numbness or tingling in hands and/or feet
Anxiety is our body’s natural fight or flight system. Fight or flight is our body’s automatic response to threatening situations, preparing us to face the challenge (to “fight” the challenge or obstacle) or run away from it (“flight”). Anxiety can cause your fight or flight system to turn on even when there is no danger present. When anxiety hits, it is automatically prepping your body which is why you may feel your heart rate increase, your palms get sweaty, and so on.
However, anxiety does not just stop there. Anxiety can alter the way you act on a day-to-day basis, when your anxiety is in full force and even when it is not. Some behavioral changes can occur as a result of anxiety.
BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY DISORDERS MAY INCLUDE:
Restlessness and agitation
Social withdrawal and isolation
Inability to sit still and remain calm
Agoraphobia (fear of leaving your home, being in a crowded place, or being in situations where escape or outside assistance would not be available if things take a turn)
Inability to handle responsibilities at work, school, and home
Feeling irritable often
Decreased ability to perform normal activities that are part of your daily life
Using drugs or alcohol to self-medicate your anxiety symptoms
ANXIETY SYMPTOMS FOR CHILDREN:
Lack of confidence
Perfectionism
Worried about “fitting in”
Negative thoughts
Not eating properly
Not sleeping or consistently waking up in the middle of the night
Feeling tense and fidgety
Using the bathroom often
Frequent unexplained stomach aches or physical complaints
Avoidance of school or social activities
Spending excessive time on performance based tasks
Quickly getting angry or irritable and not being able to control your child during these outbursts
Crying more often than usual
Concentration issues
Fear of separation from parents or loved ones
Being ‘clingy’ - not wanting to be away from parents or other loved ones
In addition to the above, anxiety in children also presents concurrently with symptoms of depression such as feeling sad or hopeless, avoidance and withdrawal from activities, changes in sleeping or eating patterns. This may be a sign that they are struggling with not only depression, but anxiety as well.
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety is a normal emotion. It is your brain’s way of reacting to stress and alerting you about a potential danger in the future. Everyone feels anxious now and then, but if your symptoms are constant, you may be struggling with an anxiety disorder.
TYPES OF ANXIETY DISORDERS:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder - You constantly feel worried that something bad is going to happen and you have tension with little to no cause. Most of your worried thoughts are not reality.
Panic Disorder - You feel unexpected, severe fear that triggers an intense physical reaction. During a panic attack, you may have several different symptoms. Some symptoms of a panic attack may include sweating, chest pains, and heart palpitations. You may even feel like you are choking or having a heart attack.
Agoraphobia - As previously mentioned, agoraphobia is the fear of leaving your home, being in a crowded place, or being in situations where escape or outside assistance would not be available if things take a turn.
Social Anxiety (Social Phobia) - A seemingly normal everyday social situation may have you feeling overwhelmed, worried, or self-conscious. You worry constantly about others judging you, being embarrassed, or being ridiculed.
Selective Mutism - This can be a type of social anxiety. For instance, your child may talk normally with their family, but will not speak publicly, like in a school environment.
Specific Phobia - There are a wide range of phobias. Generally, a phobia is when you have an intense fear regarding a specific object or situation. For instance, you may have a fear of heights which is known as acrophobia. Your fear goes beyond rationality, and may even cause you to actively avoid ordinary situations.
Separation Anxiety - When we think of separation anxiety, it can be easy to only view it as a disorder that affects children; however, that is inaccurate. Separation anxiety is defined by feeling scared or anxious when a loved one leaves. Anyone can get separation anxiety disorder regardless of their age. If you have this disorder, then you likely feel very anxious or fearful when your loved one leaves you. You may also worry that something bad is going to happen to that person when they leave. You typically are very dependent on others.
Illness Anxiety Disorder - Illness anxiety disorder is when you have a persistent fear that you have a serious or life-threatening illness despite little to no medical symptoms. Illness anxiety disorder was previously known as hypochondria.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - OCD is characterized by unreasonable thoughts, fears, and obsessions that lead to compulsive behavior.
All anxiety disorders share the common feature of excessive fear and worry that feels out of your control and is out of proportion to the actual threat.
EXAMPLES OF HOW ANXIETY COUNSELING COULD HELP:
The good news is that there are many highly effective treatment options to help those struggling with anxiety. Most will benefit from a combination of treatment modalities. These treatment modalities will be tailored to fit individual needs and symptoms by your anxiety therapist.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT):
CBT, an evidence-based therapy, is one of the most widely used treatments for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. CBT for anxiety and CBT for OCD utilizes both cognitive and behavioral techniques to address both the behaviors and thoughts that make daily life difficult for those struggling with anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety works to identify negative thoughts and beliefs that lead to maladaptive behaviors, such as avoidance and withdrawal. In addition to identifying the source of the anxiety, it will help you to process and challenge these beliefs. The next step in CBT is to develop effective coping skills and strategies to process and work through the anxious symptoms that have been impacting your life.
At Anchor Therapy, all of our anxiety therapists specialize in CBT.
2. INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY:
Psychotherapy for anxiety will include CBT interventions while adding a form of talk therapy to help better understand and process the root of your anxious symptoms. Interpersonal therapy addresses a larger range of issues and patterns of behavior that is personalized to best address each person’s needs. The goals of this form of anxiety counseling is to help you regulate emotions, manage stressful life situations, and improve relationships.
3. PROLONGED EXPOSURE THERAPY:
Prolonged exposure therapy, in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, is an evidence-based treatment specifically focused on reducing your physical and emotional response to anxiety triggers. Exposure therapy is for those who avoid feared objects or situations (also known as phobias). While avoidance may help stop the anxiety in the moment, it can also make the problem worse over time.
The first step in this treatment is to help you master mindful relaxation techniques that can keep you calm when confronting triggers. This is done by focusing on visualizations, breathing techniques, and grounding exercises. The next phase is to work toward imaginal exposure to begin to reduce the effects of the triggering object or situations. Through continued gradual exposure techniques, CBT for anxiety, and relaxation exercises, your Anchor Therapy counselor for anxiety will help to extinguish the association between the fear response and the negative stimuli.
HOW DO I KNOW IF IT IS ANXIETY THAT I AM STRUGGLING WITH?
Take our 2-minute Quiz to see if you have anxiety.
Many different types of anxiety disorders exist, but research has proven that they all are caused by the same underlying processes. If you struggle with an anxiety disorder, you most likely become easily overwhelmed by your emotions and you might react negatively to those unpleasant feelings or situations.
Like many people, you may try to cope by becoming avoidant. In other words, you will purposefully avoid situations that trigger your anxiety and negative emotions. Unfortunately, avoiding the situation does not help the situation. In fact, it can actually add fuel to the fire of your anxiety.
HOW CAN AN ANXIETY THERAPIST HELP ME?
An anxiety and depression therapist is trained in not only diagnosing anxiety disorders, but teaching those struggling with anxiety how to cope in an effective manner and live an overall healthier life. An anxiety therapist near you will help you learn to identify and manage the factors that contribute to your anxiety.
When working with a therapist for anxiety, you will learn how your thoughts contribute to your anxiety symptoms. When you learn how to alter those thought patterns in anxiety disorder psychotherapy, you will reduce the likelihood and intensity of your anxiety symptoms.
With behavioral therapy for anxiety, you will learn techniques to lessen unsought behaviors linked to anxiety disorders. In exposure and response prevention for anxiety, you are encouraged to approach activities and situations that instigate your anxiety. An example of this could be speaking in a public space or being in an enclosed space, like an elevator. By practicing CBT exposure therapy for anxiety, you will learn your feared outcomes, like having a panic attack, are not always likely.
treatment for OCD
As an example, let us say that you struggle with OCD. In this case, it is highly recommended that you seek OCD treatment near you. CBT for OCD has been proven to be one of the most effective treatments for OCD. In OCD exposure therapy, you and your OCD therapist will work to expose you to thoughts, images, objects, and situations that make you nervous or trigger your obsessions.
OCD therapy teaches you to make an active choice to not take part in a compulsive behavior once your anxiety and/or obsessions have been triggered. A therapist specializing in OCD will guide you in the beginning; however, you will eventually learn how to manage your symptoms on your own. In psychotherapy for OCD, you make the choice to confront your anxiety and obsessions while also making a commitment to not succumb and engage in compulsive behavior.
THE STEPS OF ANXIETY COUNSELING AT ANCHOR THERAPY:
Choosing to begin therapy can sometimes be a difficult decision. To best consider if this is the right choice for you, it can be helpful to ask yourself a few questions on how your anxiety symptoms impact your day to day life:
Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities?
Do you have an ongoing feeling that something bad is going to happen?
Do you fear that something bad will happen if you don’t do things a certain way?
Does your anxiety cause you to avoid things you once enjoyed?
Have your anxiety symptoms been ongoing with little ability to control them?
Are you having negative and intrusive thoughts that are hard to stop?
Are you experiencing any physical conditions that can’t be explained medically?
If you feel that your anxiety is negatively impacting you and those around you, anxiety therapy is a great option to help take back control of your body and mind. The sooner you can understand and develop the coping skills needed, the sooner you can get to feeling like yourself again. Anxiety is a common mental health issue, and here at Anchor Therapy, we are anxiety counselors that specialize in creating a treatment plan that will work to address your personal needs and goals.
CONTACT US
WORKING WITH US IS EASY
Fill out the contact form below.
Our intake coordinator will get back to you with more information on how we can help and to schedule an appointment. We will set you up with an experienced licensed therapist who specializes in what you're seeking help with and who understands your needs.
You’ll rest easy tonight knowing you made the first step to improve your life.
