Anxiety Therapy
Is Anxiety Compromising Your Quality Of Life?
Your mind is racing a mile a minute—you’re juggling work demands and home responsibilities while trying to maintain healthy, satisfying relationships. Your to-do list seems to be never-ending, and just when you’ve solved one problem, a new one bubbles up again to take its place. You’re exhausted, agitated, and maxed out, yet you don’t know what you could possibly do to reduce stress and make life more manageable.
Does this sound familiar? If so, you may be struggling with anxiety.
Anxiety is an extremely common—and human—experience. It’s normal to become hypervigilant, worried, and overwhelmed, especially in dangerous or uncertain situations. However, when left unchecked, these symptoms of anxiety can become a conditioned stress response, causing unnecessary feelings of fear or panic.
What Is The Difference Between Normal Fear And Chronic Anxiety?
Oftentimes, chronic worst-case-scenario thinking is a sign that anxiety has taken over. You may feel as though you need to iron out every single detail so that you can be prepared for anything to happen. In this state, it’s hard to be present or connect with others because you’re always scanning your environment for potential threats. Or perhaps you’re so regularly on edge that you’re often agitated or aggressive in your relationships. As a result, you may avoid certain situations or even put off making important decisions because it’s become natural to assume that the worst is going to happen.
In addition, it’s possible you’re suffering with physical ailments or pains that have no medical explanation. Frequent headaches, stomachaches, digestive disturbances, muscle tension, and sleep disruptions are not always the result of a physical condition; these symptoms may signal a need to seek treatment for anxiety. However, instead of establishing lasting and healthy coping strategies, you may prefer to numb your discomfort with alcohol, marijuana, or other substances.
Anxiety Is Especially Common Among Young People
Alternatively, you may be the parent of a child or a student yourself experiencing an onset of stress and worry. You might struggle to keep up with the academic, athletic, social, and career-oriented pressures that weigh on you. Or perhaps you’re preparing for college and anxious about moving on to the next chapter of your life. Anxiety is especially common among high school students and young adults, so if these symptoms affect you, you are not alone.
No matter what age you are, anxiety can rob your life of peace. All you want is to make decisions that you can feel confident about so that you spend less time obsessing over what could go wrong. Fortunately, with therapy, you can regain power over an anxiety-dominated mindset so that you can start to enjoy life again.
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Anxiety Both Helps And Hurts Us
Anxiety is one of the most—if not the most—common mental health hurdles. Most estimates suggest that close to one-quarter of American adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, but that number has likely increased in recent years due to the pandemic, political divides, and other global stressors.¹ Not to mention, there has been a sharp increase in rates of child and teen anxiety, causing many parents to worry if their child’s symptoms are chronic or just temporary.
The thing is, our world can be a dangerous place. A certain amount of anxiety is actually beneficial in situations where we perceive a threat. For instance, anxiety can help us as parents be on the lookout for situations, environments, or people that may harm our children. And as employees, anxiety can help us increase organization, diligence, and work performance.
Unfortunately, anxiety creates a vicious cycle that perpetuates more anxiety. Catastrophic thinking begets catastrophic thinking, which can eventually overtake our ability to problem-solve and approach ordinary situations rationally. Once our brains no longer have the capacity to address normal occurrences calmly, it’s easy to feel defeated and controlled by our anxiety.
Meaningful treatment exists, though. At A New Day Family Counseling, you can explore your anxiety in a safe, therapeutic environment with a counselor who will support you in developing healthier, more rational ways of thinking.
Therapy Allows You To Understand And Challenge Anxiety
Oftentimes, anxious thoughts become so entangled with one another that it’s hard to decipher where anxiety even originated. Therapy gives you a chance to feel safe and supported to untangle the negative or catastrophic associations your brain has created so that you can experience more peace and less anxiety. Our clinicians are specialists in a variety of areas—from individual counseling to psychological testing for anxiety disorders to couples and family therapy.
In anxiety treatment, you will learn why your brain is responding the way it is while developing tailored and meaningful strategies to overcome unhealthy patterns. Decreasing your overall stress level will allow you to reduce the impact of negative associations so that you can feel better equipped to handle fear, uncertainty, and tough decisions.
What To Expect
Therapy begins with a general overview of your history, symptoms, and any kind of anxiety treatment you might have sought out in the past. Using this information, your counselor will customize the therapeutic experience and offer individualized skills to combat the stress created by your anxiety. For clients under 18, your therapist will ensure that you understand the anxiety treatment process on your own terms and help you learn ways to relax in session.
From there, we are likely to incorporate a variety of counseling approaches into treatment so that you can experience lasting relief from anxiety. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a very helpful tool we use in general to address negative patterns created by anxiety, while Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can help you locate and heal from early distressing experiences that have conditioned your stress response. Younger clients in therapy (children, adolescents, and young teens) can expect that games, crafts, and other creative outlets will be involved in counseling to help explore the thoughts and feelings driving anxiety.
In addition, for clients struggling with social anxiety or neurodivergence, in particular, the Safe and Sound Protocol is a meaningful therapy tool used to promote feelings of calm. And we also have “walk and talk” therapy sessions available for those who feel more comfortable and productive when physical movement is involved in treatment.
Once you know how to challenge anxious thinking patterns, you can experience a reduction in physical symptoms and develop new ways of thinking. You’ll be able to better recognize your strengths, capabilities, and passions so that you can live more confidently and with less fear. With these newfound insights, you’re likely to see improvements in every area of your life, from your work to your relationships to your self-perception.
Perhaps You’re Curious About Going To Therapy For Anxiety But Aren’t Sure If Our Counselors Are Right For You…
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Getting started is usually the most challenging part of seeking therapeutic treatment. However, our clinicians are here to help and accept wherever you are on your journey—not to judge you. We will guide you in identifying symptoms, root causes, and goals for anxiety treatment. And when you feel empowered to make meaningful changes in your life, you can feel confident that you’ve been paired with the right anxiety therapist.
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We are invested in your healing and will thus work with you on any financial or scheduling concerns you have. Many of our therapists specializing in anxiety offer flexible hours (including evening and weekend timeframes), and HIPAA-compliant telehealth services are available to those who don’t want to commute or feel more comfortable in their own space.
If cost is a concern, we will make sure you’re fully aware of your financial responsibility before seeking treatment. We do partner with some insurance plans and offer affordable, self-pay rates for those who qualify. Contact us to find out more.
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It’s possible that your loved one is reacting to a new decision or experience out of a sense of fear. Beginning therapy on your own sends a powerful signal that you are willing to work on yourself and prioritize the health of your relationship. Your therapist can work with you to alleviate your partner’s anxiety about therapy, whether it involves a phone consultation or inviting them to join a session. Of course, we will only do this with your written permission.
Manage Your Stress And Find Lasting Peace
Anxiety results in negative, catastrophic, and self-limiting beliefs, but therapy can help you adjust your perspective. To find out more about who we work with and our approach to anxiety treatment, contact us.
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