Anxiety Counseling

Are You Consumed By Stress, Panic and Dread?

Do you constantly feel on edge, overwhelmed or anticipate future events with worry? Do racing thoughts impact your ability to relax, concentrate on tasks, manage stress or engage socially? Perhaps you often feel out of control, like you can’t let go or as if something is about to turn horribly wrong. Perhaps anxiety has started to manifest physically through surging heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, tingling or uncontrollable crying. When these sensations set in, do you fear that you’re dying or disconnecting from reality completely? Do you wish you could better understand your experience with anxiety and develop insight and tools to manage your stress in healthier ways?

Living with anxiety can be a distressing and scary experience. Racing thoughts may be keeping you awake at night, which adds to your misery and leaves you feeling increasingly drained, withdrawn or on edge during the day. You may be preoccupied by “what if?” questions about the future that you can’t control, causing your thoughts to spiral and fuel more troubling emotions and physical symptoms. The tiring and ongoing looping cycle of anxiety can impact your work performance, relationships, self-esteem and overall wellbeing. You may have even turned to drugs, alcohol, food, gambling or other vices to soothe yourself, only to find these detours cause more pain than they prevent. Regardless of your coping strategies or the severity of your symptoms, you may not understand what is happening to you and desperately crave a healing path to relief.

Anxiety Is Very Common In Our Culture

Anxiety is a natural stress response that everyone experiences. It’s like an alarm system that heightens awareness that something needs to be done. Anxiety is often situational, triggered by a deadline at work or an important test at school. However, if you have severe anxiety, it’s likely impacting every aspect of your life, and you are not alone. Anxiety disorders, which include social anxiety, phobias, separation anxiety, generalized anxiety and more, are incredibly common. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults (18 percent of the population) in the United States, and that just includes those who are diagnosed.

Considering we live in a fast-paced culture that rewards overtime work, immediate responses and jam-packed schedules, it’s not surprising that so many people struggle with stress. And, the influence and omnipresence of social media can make it feel as though your social status, thoughts and body are constantly on display. If you feel as though you’re not living up to the perceived expectations of others, that vulnerability can negatively impact your confidence, privacy and even safety. If the anxiety in your life has become so overwhelming that you can’t function or you’re experiencing panic attacks, that’s your body’s way of saying it needs help. The good news is that with the guidance of an empathic anxiety therapist, you can learn effective strategies that can not only alleviate physical discomforts, but promote long-term balance and harmony in your life.

Anxiety Counseling Can Help You Maintain Peace and Balance

While severe anxiety can cause overwhelming and distressing thoughts, emotions and body sensations, healthy levels of anxiety are good and can motivate you to organize and complete tasks. In that respect, effective therapy for anxiety does not rid your system of stress, but teaches you how to manage and harness anxiety in healthier ways. In secure anxiety therapy sessions, you can acquire skills that allow you to override distress in social situations and work-related activities so that you can focus on what truly matters.

In a safe space outside the stressors of everyday life, you can openly explore your innermost concerns and desires. During our sessions together, I seek to understand your issues within the context of your life and develop a treatment plan that is tailored to your unique therapy goals, personality and needs. Throughout our work together, we can explore your past experiences, relationships and communication patterns and address how all of these elements contribute to present feelings of disorder or even chaos. It’s common for people in extreme states of anxiety to lose hope about positive possibilities for the future. But, once you increase self-awareness and are able to recognize your triggers, you can start incorporating new skills and possibilities into your everyday life. By utilizing the many evidence-based tools available for alleviating anxiety, such as breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, establishing an action time, and more, you can start feeling more relaxed and empowered to move forward.

My approach to treating anxiety is strength based, meaning we will identify elements that are already working and continue to honor and build those assets. I believe that with the guidance of an experienced anxiety therapist, you can untangle and heal your unique difficulties in ways you never knew possible. I’ve been practicing for over 20 years, have on-going training in anxiety treatment and have helped many individuals overcome crippling stressors. If you’re willing to trust in the therapeutic process, not only can you experience relief from fear and dread, but you can become the relaxed, happy, in-control person you wish to be.

You may still have some questions or concerns about anxiety therapy…

I fear that talking about my severe anxiety will only make it worse.

I know that it takes a great deal of courage to seek help for anxiety. I also know that avoidance is not an effective treatment for anxiety. When you avoid the elephant in the room, it’s all you think about. The same idea applies to your health. Without proper treatment and guidance, symptoms of anxiety can worsen over time. If you’re ready to commit to the therapeutic process, it’s possible to develop skills that can alleviate your suffering now and later on down the road.

I’m not strong enough for anxiety management.

You may know what you need to do, but motivation and follow through have been difficult to muster lately. Counseling for anxiety creates the opportunity for you to identify your goals and be guided, step by step, and supported as you work toward those goals. It’s really common for a variety of life influences to drive anxiety. At a pace that works for you, together we can prioritize immediate issues and work down the ladder until you experience profound healing and relief.

How long does anxiety treatment last?

Because each person experiences depression and anxiety differently and has varying therapy needs and goals, it’s difficult to approximate how long anxiety treatment will last. That said, most people start to see a decrease in symptoms after just three or four sessions and begin to feel substantially better every session. Patience is an important part of this work, and the more committed you are to the therapy process, the more you can expect profound positive change.

You Can Heal And Move Forward 

If you’re experiencing increased stress levels or anxiety attacks and would like to learn more about anxiety counseling or my practice in Tucson, AZ, please call 520-268-8890 for a free 15-minute phone consultation.

“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we make ourselves.”

-Pema Chodron