Anxiety Treatment

Are Worrisome Thoughts Taking Over Your Life?

Are you routinely overwhelmed by stress, fear or panic? Are you struggling to balance your dreams and goals with your current responsibilities? Racing and often illogical thoughts may be affecting your ability to concentrate on tasks, manage stress or engage socially. Perhaps your anxiety has manifested physically, and when you’re stressed you experience heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea or even panic attacks. These uncomfortable physical sensations can take a major toll on your daily life and may leave you feeling like something is about to go terribly wrong. Do you wish you could have more control over what’s happening to you and feel more confident in your ability to maintain balance and be happy?

Living with an anxiety disorder can be an uncomfortable, frustrating and scary experience. Anxiety is a repetitive process that fuels distressing thoughts, emotions and physical symptoms, such as sweating, rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. These intrusive thoughts and sensations can make feeling motivated and productive increasingly strenuous, which may cause you to fall behind at work or feel disconnected to your loved ones. Your physical health may also suffer as you deal with eating or sleeping issues or thoughts that keep you consistently withdrawn or on edge.

Anxiety is The Most Common Mental Health Diagnosis in America

If you're struggling to manage the symptoms of anxiety, you are not alone. Anxiety disorders are the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults (roughly 18 percent of the U.S. population), according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Anxiety is something that affects everyone – during first dates, job interviews and even in normal, everyday situations. When someone experiences increased levels of stress hormones over a significant period of time, it can be paralyzing and detrimental to a person's overall health.

We live in a fast-paced society, where the 70 hour week is praised and there’s little downtime to relax and recoup. Many people seem to confuse strength with suppressing uncomfortable emotions and vulnerability when something is wrong. The truth, however, is that the longer we avoid and stuff down what’s bothering us, the more severe it becomes. We may be able to deal with anxiety in the short term, but continuous anxiety over the long term can leave us feeling hopeless and unable to cope effectively. If you’re experiencing anxiety all the time and it affects your day to day life, it’s unlikely to subside on its own. But, with the help of an experienced therapist who understands what you’re going through, you can experience immediate relief from your physical symptoms and learn tools to alleviate anxiety and promote lasting harmony in your life.  

Anxiety Treatment Can Help You Maintain Balance

I believe that knowledge is power, and understanding your experience, both physically and psychologically, is an important step in learning to manage anxiety. During sessions, I will help you to understand how racing thoughts affect your body and how you can make peace with negative patterns of thinking. As you develop the awareness and skills to alleviate uncomfortable physical sensations and maintain balance in your mind and body, we will work toward understanding the root cause of your anxiety. The foundational element that drives anxiety is not always obvious, and it is different for everyone. Together, in a safe space, we will navigate your past experiences, relationships and communication habits and explore how all of these elements contribute to your present feelings of unease and discomfort.

With the right approach and the guidance of an empathic anxiety therapist, you can learn effective tools to immediately regulate painful and distressing thoughts, emotions and physical symptoms. If you’re having heart palpitations or trouble breathing, you can learn to focus your breath in a manner that calms the nerves and restores physiological balance. Looping thoughts are one of the major factors that fuel anxiety, impacting how you feel and many of the decisions you make. Using a mindfulness-based approach, you can learn to make deliberate efforts to keep racing thoughts from spiraling out of control. By utilizing the many evidence-based tools that are available for treating anxiety, you can start feeling more relaxed and confident in your ability to go after what you want in life.

I am a mindfulness-based transpersonal counselor, and it is my belief that everyone has an innate desire and capacity to grow and be their best self. I can provide you with effective tools to alleviate uncomfortable sensations and help you realize your own intuitive strength and wisdom. In addition to my experience as a psychotherapist, I have first-hand experience with how challenging anxiety can be and how profoundly it can affect your life. I've seen personally and professionally how effective a little guidance can be in helping you develop a better understanding of yourself and your anxiety so you can process anxious thoughts and feel your fears begin to diminish. 

Although you could benefit from anxiety treatment, you may still have some questions or concerns…

My anxiety is so intense that I doubt anything will help.

It’s possible that your past efforts were unsuccessful because anxiety is often a symptom of a deeper issue. Therapy can provide a supportive and safe environment where you can explore and address the root cause of your anxiety symptoms. There are so many effective tools you can use to begin alleviating uncomfortable feelings, and we will take time to discuss what hasn't worked for you in the past and what can work for you now. My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools that will help you with your symptoms and also help you to understand and address the underlying issue that is keeping you stuck. With help and a willingness to self-explore and engage in the therapy process, it is possible to gain better control of your anxiety, feel more relaxed and begin the healing process.

I don’t have time or money for anxiety treatment.

Getting to the foundational causes of your anxiety can be a commitment that may take some time. Think of it like going to the  gym—you’re not going to lose weight overnight. But, with a healthy and regular exercise routine, you can achieve your physical health goals. With that being said, you can start feeling better on day one of anxiety therapy. Our work together doesn’t have to be a major investment in time or money if you don’t want it to be. There are a lot effective tools available to manage anxiety symptoms, and when you’re able to use these to successfully calm yourself, they can actually save you time throughout your day. If you’re experiencing debilitating levels of stress on a regular basis, treatment for anxiety may be a worthwhile investment in your health and well-being.

Will I have to take medication? 

Although medication can be an effective, short-term method in crisis situations—and I will support you if you choose to take medicine—there are many tools and approaches available that don’t require a prescription. As you learn more about yourself and how your anxiety influences your mood and behavior, you can become your own medicine.

You Can Feel Empowered and in Control

If you are interested in learning more about my approach to therapy for anxiety, call 720-608-0174 for a free 30-minute phone consultation.