Therapy for Anxiety
Anxiety is extremely common, affecting 48 million people in the U.S. annually, and exists on a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum anxiety is “normal” and functions to actually help us, such worrying about forgetting something important on a trip so making a list first. Sometimes it feels like anxiety helps us because it ensures we’re almost always prepared, meet deadlines, perform well at work and be known as reliable, etc. But sometimes anxiety becomes a problem (the other end of spectrum) when it starts impacting our quality of life, such as our sleep, relationships, work or even our ability to work or complete everyday tasks.
common Symptoms of Anxiety:
constantly overthinking everything
laying awake at night, replaying conversations over and over again
worrying about what you will do, say, wear, etc several days before an event or trip
heart racing, tightness in the chest, rapid breathing, feeling hot
obsessing over work performance and relationships
worrying about what others think
planning out all possible outcomes of a conversation, work presentation or other upcoming event, including vacations
feeling afraid of making mistakes
difficulty slowing down or relaxing
difficulty sleeping or shutting the brain off to get to sleep
waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble getting back to sleep because you keep thinking about that thing
overthinking everything
perfectionism
low self-esteem
Where does anxiety come from?
Anxiety can develop for a number of reasons. Sometimes we have a genetic predisposition to different mental health issues, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we fully inherited it from our parents. It can be a combination of nature and nurture, meaning you can be predisposed but there are also things in your environment that lead you to develop anxiety. Maybe you grew up feeling like you had to be perfect or at least “really good” in order to earn respect, praise, or to be accepted by others. Maybe you were criticized if you didn’t have perfect grades or a perfect performance on a sports team or creative arts. Maybe you were told not to be anxious (right, like that ever works), or told not to feel a certain way and you learned to stuff things down or ignore it, even though you felt it physically (racing thoughts, tightness in your chest, rapid breathing, heart racing, etc). As an adult, you experience anxiety as worrying all the time, trying to plan for every outcome, feeling afraid, or even some physical symptoms. Anxiety tends to play out in our relationships, work and in our inner thoughts. Sometimes it looks like people-pleasing, but sometimes it looks like questioning our relationships or ourselves: do they really like me? if I say no will they hate me or think I’m a bad partner/friend/coworker? if I mess up will I get fired? if I get fired how will I pay my rent/mortgage? what will my partner/family/friends think? etc etc. Before you know it you’re in an anxiety spiral and and feeling overwhelmed. If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Good news: Anxiety is treatable. You can feel better and experience relief.
Anxiety doesn’t have to control you or keep impacting you in negative ways. I help clients with anxiety by teaching skills (such as mindfulness and self-compassion), strategies and specific exercises that reduce anxiety. I also use skills from DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to reduce and manage anxiety. Your anxiety exists for a reason, and when we address those reasons we can reduce the symptoms. When you come to therapy for anxiety, we’ll tackle the root issues causing your anxiety to flare up and give you skills so you know how to manage it on your own long after we are no longer working together. You may never be rid of it entirely because remember, some anxiety can be helpful - but it doesn’t have to feel so intense or have such a big impact on your life. My goal is to work together to reduce your anxiety, reduce it’s intensity and give you tools and skills to handle it when it flares up.
What about Medication?
Often anxiety can be treated without medication. Sometimes it can be helpful to be on medication while you are in therapy, but medication by itself usually isn’t enough. Research shows us that medication for anxiety works best in conjunction with therapy. I don’t have the ability to prescribe medication but have providers that I refer to when clients are looking for medication support. If you are interested in medication I’m happy explore it in session and work directly with your medication providers. Bottom line: you don’t have to be on medication to work with me, but if you want to it’s okay and we can talk about it.
