Anxiety counseling
Having anxiety can be brutal. It can dominate your life. It can color your experience of everything to turn it from enjoyable to intolerable. Although anxiety shows up differently for different people, it manifests in one’s mind, emotions, and body. In your mind, your thoughts may seem like they are flying a million miles an hour and can not be controlled. And, it seems like attempts to quiet down your mind only make it worse! These thoughts can prevent you from having the relationships you want, having fun, relaxing, sleeping soundly, and a myriad of other activities in your life. Anxiety counseling can reduce the power these thoughts have over you, opening up new possibilities for your life.
Quick navigation
Emotionally, you may experience stress most of the time. Perhaps this stress is so pervasive that it has become your new “normal.” Maybe you are easily frustrated, flustered, or overwhelmed. It may seem really hard to move past these emotions as they either seem to be on repeat or just chronically present.
In the body, you may find that you store stress. Perhaps you experience aches and pains, tightness, especially in the jaw, fatigue, or hyper-alertness. Chronic stress has been shown to lead to a variety of health-related issues, which you may already have or are at risk of having.
Find out more about what is anxiety.
You may believe that this is an issue that only you experience, but the reality is that you are not alone. Anxiety is incredibly common. And, people have developed ways to hide just how anxious they feel. Perhaps you have too. Fortunately, anxiety counseling can help ease your stress. We see it happen again and again.
Discover what causes anxiety.
Can anxiety counseling help me?
Counseling is a fantastic way to reduce anxiety. It has been clinically documented that attending counseling not only can reduce stress, but even heal areas of the brain that are most affected by anxiety. That’s right, counseling can change your brain! Basically, our brains naturally respond to threats by getting anxious to help us respond appropriately. A problem arises when our brains perceive certain things as threatening when they really aren’t. For example, you might have a belief that people are negatively judging you all the time. Intellectually, you can understand that this probably isn’t the case, but that doesn’t stop you from fixating on that concern.
Anxiety counseling helps retrain your brain to not panic about so much about so many things. If you are tired of worrying so much and would like some relief, then anxiety counseling is likely to work for you.
How can anxiety counseling help change my brain?
There are many aspects of counseling that are designed to influence your brain and restore balance. The first is the therapeutic relationship. Simply having someone consistently show up for you in a nonjudgmental, caring manner starts reprogramming your brain and healing old attachment wounds. Secondly, there are a variety of techniques designed to change your brain that can be learned and practiced inside and outside of counseling. Third, counseling assists you in developing supportive relationships outside of counseling and creating a nurturing environment for yourself. Creating these conditions in your life also helps you change your brain and reduce your anxiety.
Are you the right counselor for me?
Finding the right counselor is important. We want to make sure that you feel comfortable with your clinician and that you get the help you want. We specialize in helping people with anxiety and have seen many people’s anxiety improve dramatically during the course of counseling. Some clients have said that they didn’t realize just how much they were suffering until they had some relief.
Anxiety and trauma counseling
People who experience anxiety often have had some form of trauma in their lives. What is traumatic for someone mostly depends on how they perceive the event rather than what the event actually is. And, there are various levels of trauma. For example, a natural disaster or a school shooting may be one type of trauma. And, having a parent psychologically abuse you growing up is another kind of trauma. In some cases, trauma is one event, whereas other kinds of traumas are recurring. Repetitive traumas, like being regularly abandoned or alienated, can be incredibly harmful.
After these traumas, the brain may be trained to be on high alert all the time, constantly scanning for danger. This can be experienced as anxiety, constant worry, needing to be “on point” all the time, and rarely being able to let down one’s guard, particularly in public places. Counseling doesn’t necessarily mean that we will rehash traumatic events that have happened in our life. Rather, we will focus on healing from these events, exploring how they still impact your life and shift any harmful patterns that were created.
Can I afford anxiety counseling?
You probably want to make sure that they are getting a good value for what you invest. That is important for us too! It may be helpful for you to evaluate how much it would be worth it to have less anxiety in your life. How would your life be different? What could you do that you previously couldn’t do? What kinds of relationships could you have? If you believe that having less anxiety in your life would dramatically impact your life then perhaps counseling may be worth it to you. We are committed to making sure that you are getting what you need.
Suggested reading for you
How do attachment styles influence your relationships?
Why are relationships so hard? Romantic partnerships are designed to challenge you. They are growthful relationships by nature. But, why is this? Shouldn’t they be
Depression
Depression sucks. Literally. It sucks the energy, motivation, and joy right out of you. A lot of the time you may feel a heaviness, which
Couples counseling
Relationships can be incredibly challenging. Perhaps you feel alone even when you are right next to your partner. Maybe you don’t trust your spouse. You