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    Counseling for Anxiety

    Is anxiety too pervasive in your life? Does it feel like you can’t control it no matter how hard you try? Maybe you already tried therapy but found it ineffective?

    Or maybe you’ve always been the one people looked to for grounding and calm but you’ve noticed lately it’s more difficult to maintain a balanced view, to be supportive to others, and to relax in general. 

    If this sounds like you, I’m confident I can help. My approach is an effective form of treatment to get the relief from anxiety that you deserve.

    Research has shown that counseling is usually the most effective option when it comes to treating anxiety or anxiety disorders. Medications may be helpful but/and they target only the symptoms of anxiety and have the potential for many unintended consequences. 

    Some common symptoms of anxiety:

    • Tension in the jaw, neck and/or shoulders 
    • Unease in your belly which can affect toileting, ie feel need to pee more often even though you’ve just gone and/or loose bowels 
    • Insomnia / Poor sleep–difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and/or early waking 
    • Nightmares or frenetic dreams that leave you feeling exhausted even after sleeping through the night 
    • Racing thoughts –monkey mind –thoughts that are all over the place and don’t settle 
    • Ruminating thoughts –turning the same idea, concern,  or memory (ie why did I say that?) over and over and over 
    • Catastrophizing –imagining or assuming the worst-case scenario 
    • Feeling shaky or tremulous –this is sometimes experienced internally, like butterflies in the belly, and sometimes it’s visible with fidgety legs, wringing the fingers, worrying at string on your sweater, biting your fingernails 
    • Feelings of danger, panic or dread: ie, I really want to go to that dinner party or networking luncheon but I know I’ll do or say the wrong thing; no one will talk with me; and, even if they do, I don’t know how to banter!  I’ll just stay home, that’s best.  
    • Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
    • Numbing, avoiding, distracting: ie, What? How did an hour go by already, I was just going to scroll through my feed for a couple of minutes… 

    The list goes on and on and looks different from person to person. And how you notice anxiety at work may be quite different from how you feel it in the context of your personal relationships. 

    It’s not uncommon for someone to be quite charismatic and successful at work while feeling anxious and lonely outside of work. 

    How does counseling help? 

    In therapy, we’re looking at the causes of anxiety related to what’s actually happening in the here-and-now; the body’s response to what’s happening; and how the mind processes these things. Our minds a tricky and complicated beasts! 

    As you  learn more about how your mind works you can learn helpful ways relax and calm. This provide perspective to look at situations in a new, less frightening way. You’ll develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills. 

    With time and commitment, these changes illicit a new way of meeting worries and difficulties with more ease and less effort. 

    If anxiety is getting in the way of enjoying things as thoroughly as you’d like, I’d love to help. Please feel invited to contact me today for a free consultation.