Anxiety

The good news is, anxiety is remarkably responsive to effective treatment, with and without the use of medications. Well researched and proven treatment approaches include CBT and somatic psychotherapy.

Our anxiety treatment approach is very active and involves identifying environmental triggers for your anxiety and/or panic, tracking your thought patterns, your physiological reactivity and behavioral responses. You then create alternative beliefs and thinking habits, learn skills to manage your physiology, and take steps to change your behavior so that you can create greater pleasure and comfort in your life, confidence in yourself, and reach your goals.

Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Sometimes, but not always, people suffering with severe anxiety can also experience panic attacks. This is also a commonly used phrase in everyday language but it actually has a very specific diagnosis. Signs of a panic attack are:

• Heart palpitations so that you feel you may be having a heart attack
• A feeling like you can’t breathe
• Feeling frozen in place or like you MUST get out of wherever you are
• Overwhelming sense of doom

Another Anxiety Therapy Option

A third treatment category that has gained significant evidence of its effectiveness is Mindfulness Therapy. This treatment approach focuses on teaching you mindfulness skills (the ability to focus your mind on targets of your choosing and relaxing your body) so that you can better control your thoughts and body. Feeling more grounded and calm also improves your ability to more comfortably move through your life, interact with others, and reach your goals.

If you’d like to talk to someone about help for your anxiety or panic feel free to contact us.

Some common signs that anxiety or chronic worry have become a problem in your life include:

1. Difficulty engaging in daily activities that others seem to do so easily
2. A significantly uncomfortable physical experience when approaching certain places, people or situations: racing heart, numbness or tingling in your fingers, suddenly sweating or feeling cold, difficulty breathing, fuzzy thinking, restlessness
3. A strong desire to avoid the situations or people that trigger that discomfort
4. A predominant feeling of worry about something specific or about a broad range of things that make it difficult for the person to function: can’t turn off the worry and go to sleep; inability to perform uncomfortable work tasks and therefore, unable to get promotions at work; never throws anything away for fear it might be useful some day
5. Fears are out of proportion to the perceived threat

While anxiety and worry are common experiences, indeed just a part of life, they warrant treatment when:

1. Your world begins to get smaller and smaller: you stop or significantly limit your driving; the variety of places you are willing to go to are decreasing or you want to be home all the time
2. You are having limited experiences in life and are feeling like you’re missing out
3. Important people in your life are expressing worry about your number or degree of fear(s)
4. You are becoming increasingly reliant on medication, other substances or people to feel comfortable or in control

The number of fears, the degrees to which one feels them, the degree of avoidance, and the level of disruption in one’s life are each unique to every individual.

Picture feeling better, longer. Research shows an increasing trend in positive wellness when combining counseling with medicine. Check out our psych med providers today!