Anxiety

Persistent fear and apprehension make life miserable.

Are you terrified of spiders, unable to get on an airplane, love symmetry and order, can’t stop counting rituals or checking, experience panic attacks, or fear open spaces or people? Have you experienced trauma?

Perhaps you feel ‘on-edge,’ are full of worry, and find it difficult to fall asleep.

Sometimes, some events might trigger irritability or physically cause your heartbeat to increase. Or, at work, you live in fear of making a mistake or being judged for poor performance. Speaking in public makes you nauseous – you think, “After all, who wants to look foolish.”

These are some of the symptoms caused by anxiety.

Feeling anxious is a natural response.

Humans are part of the animal kingdom, and as such, we have developed methods of survival that have allowed us to pass our genes on to the next generation.

Unfortunately, in a relatively safe modern world, the biological mechanisms of survival that might have protected us from large predators, natural disasters, or invading groups of humans no longer serve us the way they did throughout our evolutionary history. Our fight, flight, fawn, or freeze system (part of the sympathetic nervous system’s response to perceived threat) can malfunction, causing extreme suffering.

Maintaining unrealistic standards of cleanliness, checking to see if the house is locked or the stove is off, avoiding places for fear of going insane, trauma flashbacks, or having phobias of specific things can cause us to become completely overwhelmed. Our natural response is to control our environment and stop the perceived threat.

Persistent anxiety can have long-term consequences – emotionally and physically.

Therapy can help relieve your anxiety.

I help my clients learn that we are not in control of very much in life and that our attempts to control the uncontrollable may temporarily make us feel better, but the worries will only return to cause us more distress in the near term.

Have you ever thought that you have an illness and gone to the doctor to get information and reassurance only to doubt a clean bill of health a week later? This doubting is because you have not learned to embrace uncertainty.

Together, we will work to understand that there is freedom in giving up control and understanding that no matter what, you can cope with the adversity that life will inevitably present to you.

I can help you learn to use techniques proven to address these anxiety symptoms effectively. Let’s work together to find ways to relieve your anxiety.

Contact me today!