Therapy for Anxiety

 What Does Anxiety Look Like?

It’s 2:30 in the morning. You can’t sleep.  You pound your pillow, adjust your blankets. You roll on this side, and the other. The thoughts race through your mind like a tornado. You check the time on your cell phone, the only light in the room.

What does all of this anxiety mean? All this worry? Fear? Restlessness? Insecurity? What does it mean?

Simply this: you are human.

Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life. You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. Perhaps you went through a stressful event recently or in the past, such as the loss of a job, illness, divorce, accident or something else. You just haven’t felt like yourself since.

You may feel on edge, overwhelmed, exhausted, or even depressed from fighting negative thoughts that flood your mind, on an endless loop. Thoughts always precede your behavior.  Your thoughts direct your actions, which can interfere with your daily life such as job performance, relationships and schoolwork.

Symptoms of Anxiety Include:

·         Feeling restless or on-edge

·         Being easily fatigued

·         Having difficulty concentrating

·         Your mind going blank

·         Being irritable

·         Having muscle tension

·         Difficulty curbing worry/stress

·         Sleep problems

 You can discover a life that is characterized by calm and develop tools for facing the onslaught of anxiety. There are evidence-based practices to help you discover a life that is characterized by calm and that equip you with the tools needed for facing the onslaught of anxiety. I have years of experience helping people calm the chaos within using Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). We will focus on identifying, challenging, and reframing unhelpful or distorted thinking that underlies your anxiety.

The time you invest will be well spent. As you learn to recognize, accept and change your thought patterns, you will have more control over how you feel and act. Most of our work will focus on where you are now and where you want to be, but we will also reflect on your past to understand how it may be affecting you in the present. For example, if someone in your family of origin struggled with anxiety or one of your primary caregivers modeled unhelpful behavior, we may consider ways to break that cycle. Whatever your unique patterns might be, we can work together to trade in fear for curiosity and hope.

 At Growth For Living Counseling my ambition is to help you thrive in every part of your life.

Participating in therapy and investing in yourself can actually save you money down the road. When you get your anxiety under control, you’ll likely perform better at work, feel physically better and maybe even make fewer visits to your doctor. What’s more important than your well-being? Wouldn’t you like to learn useful skills that result in a newfound ability to achieve your goals? Imagine how amazing it would be to feel like your best self – to be in control, confident, at peace, happy and fulfilled…