Anxiety Therapy

When these symptoms get in the way of work, relationships with others, or your family, your anxiety has become severe. Sometimes, so severe that we start to modify our lives to avoid triggering a panic attack or anxious feeling. You know your symptoms are going “too far” when you start avoiding social interaction. Perhaps, you suddenly stop drive or start avoiding going to work. And, yes even in a pandemic, staying inside all of the time can be a sign you need help. It’s during these times when people find that talking to a licensed counselor may be needed.

Often people who are experiencing anxiety will first talk to a primary care physician. Naturally, many physicians will recommend medication to help treat your anxiety symptoms. While medication is definitely one piece of the puzzle to help you feel better, the best outcome is having both medication and therapy working in conjunction with each other. Therapy and medication can both be important components of your anxiety treatment. Therefore, if you have been prescribed medication to help you with your anxiety, but you are still experiencing symptoms and have not yet tried therapy that is a good next step.

involves replacing negative and irrational thoughts with a healthy and adaptive thought process. Thus, ending the anxiety cycle. This process involves noticing your thoughts, learning how to reframe them, and identifying how your thoughts, feelings, and actions are related to decreasing anxiety.

Simply stated, mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment. Often anxiety is caused by focusing on past events that we perceive as negative, or worries about how future events will turn out. When we can learn to focus on the present moment, we distract our mind from focusing on the anxiety related to the past and/or the future.

Exposure therapy helps people who are experiencing phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is a process of learning coping skills for distress/anxiety and then applying them during situations that someone has identified as anxiety-provoking. Over time, the body acclimates to approaching the situation in a different way, and anxiety decreases.