Would you like to live free of anxiety?

What is anxiety?

We all experience stress and anxiety. It is healthy to have a stress reaction in scary or risky situations – this is our fight/flight/freeze mechanism kicking in to help us protect ourselves. We can use some sense of unease, worry, and nervousness to help us pay attention to situations in life that may lead to something harmful. This is good stress when we are aware of risks and actively take steps to help ourselves, both to keep us from the possible harm and to keep from getting lost in our worrying thoughts.

Anxiety is focused on future threats, an anticipation of what might be, and becomes an issue when it takes over or limits your life. Is that thought, worry, or nervousness expanding and consuming your time and energy? Are you avoiding situations that could bring joy and fun to your life because “something” might go wrong? Are you missing out on connection in your important relationship(s)? If you find yourself losing hours or days to your worrying thoughts or unable to participate in activities, then it is time to get some help through therapy.

If you are feeling paralyzed by fear in your intimate relationships, avoiding activities or situations, or otherwise limited, consider reaching out for a free consultation.

What works– Therapy or Medication?

Research shows that therapy is critical in the process of treating anxiety. Medication can be supportive during the therapy process, but medication alone will only treat the symptoms. Using therapy helps you understand and reframe your core issues that trigger your anxiety and gain the long-term reduction of your symptoms.

Do I have Anxiety?

Anxiety is a response to a scary situation or possible risk that is larger or more intense than makes sense in that situation. It focuses on future events that MIGHT be risky and harmful. The feeling persists even when knowing information that reduces or eliminates the risk.

Here are some of the symptoms:

Nervousness
Restlessness
Muscle tension
Feelings of danger, panic or dread.
Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
Increased or heavy sweating
Trembling or muscle twitching
Weakness or lethargy
Difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about.
Insomnia
Over-cautiousness
Avoiding situations or people to reduce anxious feelings
Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder

If this sounds like you, we can help. Contact us now for a free consultation.

Types of Anxiety

Social Anxiety
Separation Anxiety
Panic Attacks
General Anxiety
Phobia – fear or anxiety focused on a specific object or situation (like spiders or flying)

What can I expect in therapy?

Frequently therapy treatment includes learning to be grounded, gaining coping skills, and understanding your anxiety triggers. At The Center for Relationships our focus is on gaining greater understanding of what triggers your anxiety and your response, befriending your thoughts, emotions, and body experience in a way that assists you. Therapy will help you to learn emotional regulation and to use tools to calm your body and mind and give you a greater capacity for decision making and making choices that reduce your symptoms.

The therapist will:

Assess your current experience of anxiety and begin to understand how your experience is distressing or uncomfortable.
Help you gain some new coping skills using grounding exercises and mindfulness.
Increase your understanding of what triggers your anxiety by exploring and processing your past and present experiences of anxiety and identify underlying causes.

Therapy can help to uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears, learn how to relax, look at situations in a new, less frightening way, and develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills.

Start today to find ways to reduce your anxious feelings.

Begin gaining new understanding and coping skills today!

Or meet with a therapist for a free consultation to find out more about anxiety treatment and to determine if you and the therapist are a fit by clicking the schedule now button below.