Counseling for Anxiety

Anxiety is a familiar sensation for many people. It’s normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Although it may be unpleasant, anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened. Anxiety can help us stay alert and focused, spur us to action, and motivate us to solve problems.

However, if your anxiety is constant or overwhelming, or if it interferes with your activities and relationships, then you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Some common symptoms of anxiety include:

  • Constantly feeling tense, worried, or on edge
  • Embarrassment or nervousness at work or school
  • Being plagued by irrational fears that you can’t control
  • Getting anxious in everyday situations
  • Sudden, unexpected heart-pounding panic
  • Feelings of apprehension or dread
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Anticipating the worst
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Watching for signs of danger
  • Feeling like you mind has gone blank
  • Pounding heart
  • Sweating
  • Insomnia

Anxiety often goes hand-in-hand with other mental health problems such as depression, grief, substance abuse, trauma, overwhelming stress, or relationship difficulties.

I use a combination of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) to help treat anxiety. We’ll start by identifying the major sources of anxiety in your life, and separating out your realistic fears from exaggerated fears. We will look for any factors from your past history, your childhood, your family, or your current or past relationships that contribute to you anxiety, including any unresolved trauma, grief, or unacknowledged losses that trigger your current fears.

We will then identify areas in your current life where you can make concrete changes to reduce your anxiety, such as changing negative thought patterns, becoming more assertive or setting appropriate boundaries in relationships, developing realistic expectations of yourself, and implementing stress-reduction and anxiety-reduction techniques into your daily life.